Pokemon Brawl
by jade-fae
Summary: Do you like pointless fighting? Now with tournament arc. And, what type are you?
1. Charmeleon v Wartortle

Brawl  
Charmeleon vs. Wartortle

…

As with so many fights, this one started with a few well-chosen words.

"Charmander!" (Your mom!)

Or not so well chosen.

"Squirt, Squirtle!" (No, Your mom!)

Oh boy.

"Char!" (Growl!)

"Squirtle." (Tail whip.)

Then the dirty old man showed up, "Here, have some candy!"

"Nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom"

*EVOLUTION*

Congratulations, your petty Bitch-fest was evolved into a full-on Brawl.

Charmeleon vs. Wartortle

!FIGHT!

The Charmeleon led with a vicious flurry of 'Scratch' attacks.

"Char!" (Eat it shell-back.)

The Wartortle responded by tanking the hits from inside his shell with 'Withdraw'.

"Wartortle!" (I love being a turtle.)

Hardly discouraged, the Charmeleon continued its assault, scratching furiously against the sturdy defense.

"Char!" (How ya like that!)

"War, tortle" (Meh, it'll buff right out.)

Making no discernable progress with its assault the Charmeleon snatched up its opponent and gave him a toss.

"Charmeleon" ('Rapid spin'.)

The sturdy water Pokémon rapidly pinballed off the walls.

"Wartortle Warrrrrrrrr!" (I don't know that moooooooooooove!)

Waiting till it came back his direction the Charmeleon slammed the spinning shell with its tail, sending it flipping into the air.

"Charmeleon" (And it's a pop fly.)

"Wartortle?" (How does Gamera do this all the time?)

With his opponent wide open the Charmeleon released a furious 'Dragon Rage'. Sensing he was in danger the Wartortle tried to figure out which way was down before firing off a 'Water gun'.

The two attacks collided and, given their opposing natures, devolved into a cloud of steam, one with enough concussive force to send the air born Pokémon sailing across the room for a magnificent crash landing.

Judges score?

9.5 9.6 7.0

"Wartortle!" (I was robbed!)

Spun, smacked, and possibly concussed the sturdy water Pokémon staggered to his feet and looked for his adversary who was closer than he expected.

"Char!" (Boo!)

The Wartortle stumbled back but not far enough to avoid being caught in the 'Smokescreen'.

"War, war, tortle!" (Cough, cough, don't you know smoking's bad for you!)

"Charmeleon." (Worse for you.)

The fearsome fire Pokémon surged forward ready to end the fight with its deadly claws. A fortunate stumble saved the dazed turtle Pokémon and his mouth opened wide just as something was forcibly shoved into it.

On instinct its mouth slammed shut.

"Charrrrrrrrr!" (Son of a biiiiiiiiiiiitch!)

Right on the Charmeleon's tail.

Realizing what had happened the Wartortle clenched its jaw and held on for dear life as the Charmeleon began to thrash about wildly, trying to dislodge him.

"Char! Char! Charmeleon!" (Leggo! Leggo! Didn't your mother ever tell you not to bite.)

"War!" (No!)

In a fit of pique, the Charmeleon began spinning around and around. The Wartortle held on as the Charmeleon picked up speed but it could feel its grip slipping.

"Charmeleon!" (Let go!)

"War!" (Never!)

The Wartortle's declaration was empty bravado and he was almost sliding onto the fire at the end when the Charmeleon completed his round the world trick with a powerful upward swing.

"Charmeleon!" (Get off!)

Jaw exhausted and no more tail to grasp the Wartortle went flying into the air.

The Charmeleon paid it no mind and bent to examine its poor abused tail. Never noticing when the Wartortle stopped its upward climb, oblivious to its accelerating descent. It never would have known what hit it if not for a single declaration.

"Wartortle!" (Superman!)

The collision was so powerful it created its own dust cloud and when it cleared the Wartortle stood over the swirly eyed Charmeleon.

"Wartortle, War Wartortle!" (Now as I was saying, your mom!)

*Winner*

*Wartortle*


	2. Ivysaur v Wartortle

Brawl  
Ivysaur vs. Wartortle

…

Filled with prehistoric power, the mighty beast roared.

"Saur!" (Roar!)

"Squirtle! Squirt Squirtle" (Charmander! He's doing it again.)

"Charmander" (Oh brother.)

"Bulbasaur!" (Shut up you guys!)

"Squirtle, squirt Squirtle squirt Squirtle" (Dude, just because you have saur in your name does not make you a dinosaur.)

"Bulbasaur! Bulbasaur…" (Shut up! Am too a dinosaur…)

"Charmander, Char" (Guys, let's not fight.)

But where's the fun in that?

"Bulbasaur!" (Am too a dinosaur!)

"Squirtle!" (Are not!)

Then the dirty old man showed up, "Here, have some candy."

"Nom nom nom nom!"

*Evolution*

"Ivy, Ivysaur?" (Ha, now wha'da ya think?)

"Wartortle… War, tortle" (I think you ugly… also, still not a dinosaur.)

"Cha, Charmander" (Wha, but I want some candy.)

"Ivysaur!" (Oh now you're gonna get it!)

"Wartortle" (Bring it on.)

Ivysaur vs. Wartortle

!FIGHT!

Ivysaur led with half a dozen 'Vine Whip'.

"Ivysaur!" (Whip it good.)

"Wartortle! Wartortle" (Fossil! Still not a dinosaur though.)

Waiting till the last second, Wartortle opened his mouth and clamped down hard on the assailing vines.

"Ivy! Ivysaur. Ivysaur?" (Yow! No fair biting. Who does that?)

"War, tor, tle" (It's a, totally, legal move.)

Wartortle held on for dear life as Ivysaur flailed his 'Vine Whips' trying to dislodge him. Failing that he tried slamming him instead.

"Ivy, saur!" (Let, go!)

"War, tortle!" (Can't, make me!)

An untrue statement, as the fourth solid 'Slam' loosened his grip and freed the vines. It also left Wartortle stuck on his back.

"Wartortle, War!" (Help, I'm a turtle and I can't get up.)

Taking advantage of his superior position, Ivysaur launched a rain of 'Razor Leaf'.

"Ivysaur" (Eat salad.)

"Wartortle" (You sound like my mom.)

Drawing into his shell, Wartortle countered the leafy assault with a 'Rapid spin'.

"Ivy. Ivysaur!" (Grr. Think you're so smart.)

Enraged, Ivysaur charged the withdrawn Wartortle in a reckless 'Takedown' attack. Smashing into the still spinning shell sent it flying into the air, an easy target.

"Char, Char, Char!" (Oh dear, Oh my, Oh no!)

"Ivy Ivysaur!" (Eat lasers turtle boy!)

Wartortle poked his head out as Ivysaur prepared for a 'Solar beam' attack.

"Wartortle" (Your salad was better.)

The turtle Pokémon's 'Taunt' was highly effective. Too angry to even see straight, Ivysaur fired its 'Solar beam'

"Charmandeeeeeeeeeer!" (Noooooooooooo!)

Wartortle vanished in the brilliant flare of the 'Solar beam'. Ivysaur sought his defeated quarry but found no trace of him. Failing to look straight up he had no time to brace for impact. Wartortle descended, headfirst, landing square on Ivysaur's unprepared cranium with a classic descending 'Skull bash'.

"Wartortle" (Who says I don't use my head.)

Wartortle chuckled as he rolled to the ground to face his stunned foe.

"Ivy… saurIvy" (Wha… Frisbspibibble.)

"Wartortle War" (It's no fun if you can't understand me.)

One quick cold 'Water gun' and Ivysaur was cognizant again.

"Wartortle?" (Give up?)

"Ivysaur!" (Never!)

Wartortle shrugged and grabbed the grass Pokémon by the head.

"Wartortle" (Suit yourself.)

A surprise 'Headbutt' sent him reeling. He attempted another 'Vine whip' but Wartortle caught the limp vine with little effort. Ivysaur knew he was really in trouble when Wartortle gave him a too friendly smile.

"Ivy, saur" (Oh, pokéball's.)

One hard tug and the grass Pokémon was airborne, spinning around and around like a drawn-out yoyo.

"Wartortle Wartortle War, Wartortle" (Round and round and round he goes where he stops, there looks good.)

With a heave and a ho, Wartortle finished off his 'Seismic toss' and planted Ivysaur in the dirt.

The turtle Pokémon swaggered up to the leafy frog with the eye swirlies.

"Wartortle, Wartortle…War! Wawawawawawawawa" Still not a dinosaur, but I bet you're… dino 'sore'! Hahahahahahahaha.

"Charmander!" Boooooooo!

*Winner*

*Wartortle*


	3. Charmeleon v Ivysaur

Charmeleon v. Ivysaur  
Allergy Season

…

When being subjected to the merciless forces of nature, completely powerless to do anything to stop them, there is but one recourse. Find someone to blame.

"Char, manda, ah, ah, ah choo!" (Stop doing tha, ah, ah, ah, choo!)

"Bulbasaur" (I'm not doing anything.)

"Charmander Char?" (Then why am I sneezing?)

"Bulba, Bulba Bulbasaur" (Because, you have a stupid nose.)

"Charmander!" (Who you callin stupid nose!)

"Bulba!" (Growl)

"Char!" (Growl)

Then the dirty old man showed up, "Here, have some candy."

"Nomnomnomnomnomnom."

*Evolution*

Congratulations, your pointless blaming has evolved into pointless violence.

Charmeleon vs. Ivysaur

!FIGHT!

"Char!" (Teach you a lesson.)

Charmeleon launched into battle, claws drawn back for a vicious 'Slash' attack.

"Ivy!" (Burma!)

An attach which was countered with a perfectly timed 'Take down'. Charmeleon caught itself before it hit the ground and used its claw to halt the backward advance.

"Charmeleon Char?" (Why'd ya say Burma?)

"Ivysaur" (I panicked.)

To cover its shame, the toady plant Pokémon launched a flurry of 'Razor leaf'. With a contemptuous snort, Charmeleon blasted them into so much fine ash with a single 'Flame burst'.

"Charmeleon" (Don't insult me.)

"Ivy… Ivysaur" (Uh… Your face is insulting.)

"Char?" (Seriously?)

"Ivy! Ivysaur!" (Shut up! I'm not good under pressure!)

A half dozen flailing 'Vine whip' lashed out from the flustered Ivysaur. Charmeleon growled and filled his mouth with fire. Once in range he tore into the evil vegan spaghetti, his 'Fire fang' ripping through them with more gusto than anyone who's ever eaten vegan spaghetti.

"Ivysaur!" (Oh gosh it hurts!)

"Charmeleon" (Serves ya right.)

Panicked, and burning, Ivysaur loosed a massive cloud of 'Poison powder' without thinking. Still busy fighting the anti-meat, Charmeleon never saw the attack till it filled his nostrils with noxious dust.

The reaction was surprisingly muted at first. A twitchy nose was scratched through a mouthful of burning vine. Persisting, the scratch became a full face rubbing then a head shaking. Nothing worked and the whole time something was building. It came to a peak and exploded with one almighty blast.

"HA, CHOOOOOOOO!" (No translation required.)

"IvyIvyIvy, Ivysaur" (Hahahahahahahaha, serves ya right.)

Charmeleon would have argued but his nose refused to let him get a word in edgewise.

"Hachoo! Hachoo!"

Ivysaur sat cackling as Charmeleon bounced around, propelled by his nose. It was gratifying to be on the winning end, especially when he hadn't started the fight.

"Ivysaur" (Might as well wrap this up.)

Spread out his leaves the warty plantasaur began charging up his 'Solar beam'. Charmeleon saw this and desperately fought his nose for control. It was pointless, the itch would not recede. Even opening his mouth all the way couldn't stop it. It was still coming, he could feel it.

"Ivysaur!" (Solar beam!)

"HACHOO!" (FLAME THROWER!)

Power surged, colliding and detonated in a magnificent multicolored display of lasers and flame. When the smoke cleared, Charmeleon dug itself out of the rubble and surveyed the carnage.

"Char" (Oops.)

Feeling both bashful and penitent, he went in search of the other. He almost walked right past him. The bumpy skinned plant Pokémon, eye swirlies firmly in place, was torched black and smoking, like most everything else within a hundred meters.

"Charmeleon… Char, Charmeleon Char!" (Guess I win… Oh hey, my nose isn't itchy anymore!)

"Ivy, saur" (You, suck.)


	4. Cast Iron (Aron v Carracosta)

And now for a brief trip over the fourth wall

…

Dr. Farnsworth – Good news everyone, I've finally repaired the Pokélingual translator device.

Fry – Great! What does that mean.

Dr. Farnsworth – No more subtitles.

Bender – Good. I was getting tired of all that readin.

…

We now return you to your regularly scheduled fic.

…

Cast Iron

…

"Ladies and gentle'mon, welcome to this episode of, Cast Iron!"

Up in the stands, the audience exploded in raucous cheers. Fortunately, no one regular exploded, but the day was still young.

"Let's get fired up!" said the host, Charmeleon, blasting a beautiful Flame thrower that earned him an awestruck round of applause, "Thank you, thank you. We've got a great matchup tonight. Not quite on par with our legendary Snorlax v. Wailord battle."

The flaming host paused to let the cheers die down, patiently waiting out the fan overenthusiasm.

"Yes, yes, we all had a lot of fun that day, but now, we have a special matchup, two unique eaters who will battle to see whose stomach is really, what?"

"CAST IRON!" the audience screamed.

"That's right. So, without further ado, let's bring'em out."

The lights went out and a single spotlight shown on a curtain hanging over a doorway.

"Our first combatant comes all the way from Sinnoh. He's the tiny shell head, the little nibbler, ladies and gentle'mon, I give you, Aron!"

Much screaming and cheering followed his introduction and Aron trotted onto the stage, giving a cheerful wave to the audience. A particularly loud and annoying section of the audience squealed 'cute' which made the poor little shell head blush terribly.

"Well, he's got fans" quipped Charmeleon, "but will he be a worthy combatant for our next contestant. He comes from a resurrected fossil, in Alola his un-evolved form is considered the ancestor of all turtle Pokémon. Here he is, the bane of bridges, boogeyman of I-beams, Carracosta!"

Again the crowd went bananas, and the ancient turtle Pokémon reveled in the attention, stopping to pose every few steps all the way across the stage.

"I'm smelling a bit of ham in that turtle, but I hope he's still hungry, cuz tonight's menu is gonna be a gut buster!"

The audience liked the sound of that and expressed their feeling as loud as they could. Maintenance would later comment on all the loose dust and fallen debris.

"Sounds like we're ready, what do you say contestants?"

The two eaters stared at one another.

"You're goin down shorty."

"Bring it on, fossil."

"Well, they sound ready to me, so let's get this dinner party started!"

FIRST COURSE

"No day would be complete without a hearty breakfast!"

A female Machoke, (because she had lipstick on) swaggered up to the table and placed two massive bowls down.

"Your first challenge, one big bowl of nails."

Aron peeked at his bowl and asked, "Could I get some milk with this?"

"NO!" shouted Charmeleon too happily.

"Hardcore" remarked Carracosta.

"Contestants, begin!"

The two Pokémon dove into their bowls, in Aron's case quite literally. The sound of metal crunching and snapping echoed over the cheers as the audience cried their support.

"Done!" declared Carracosta.

"Done!" said Aron, hopping out of his bowl.

"Our two combatants appear evenly matched" said Charmeleon, "for now. Next course!"

SECOND COURSE

"Who likes spaghetti?" pause for response, "How's about a spaghetti of rebar?"

Two massive twisted balls of rebar were dropped before the contestants.

"Whoa!"

"What was holding that?"

"An excellent question" said Charmeleon, "contestants ready, go!"

Spaghetti rebar proved a greater challenge than a mere massive bowl of nails (without any milk). Aron nibbled around the edges looking for a good place to really dig in. Carracosta, using his superior size and strength, tore whole sections out and created his own entry.

This course took longer than the first, Carracosta leading in the beginning till Aron found his opening and started doing the Pac-man.

Both once again finished at roughly the same time, announcing it with a room shaking belch. (Poor masonry.)

"Well now, wasn't that a race. Still hungry boys?"

"Bring it on!" shouted the old turtle.

"What's next?" asked the cheerful shell head.

"A brand-new car!"

"Really?"

"No" *group face-fault*, "It's actually an old car."

Right on cue the same female Machoke (cuz lipstick) threw open the doors and hauled a massive old derelict into the studio. The tires were gone so it rolled along on four dinged up rims. The rest appeared mostly intact, mostly.

"Where'd ya get his jalopy" Carracosta chuckled.

"Just something we, dug up" said Charmeleon, ignoring the old turtles withering glare.

"How come there's only one?" asked Aron.

"Because this where it gets interesting. Whoever eats the most, wins."

This revelation had the two competitors once again staring holes into each other.

FINAL COURSE

"Are we ready? Well let's go!"

The two metal munching mon dove at the car, attacking their end savagely. The hood came clean off under Carracosta's powerful flippers and the muffler was anything but quiet when Aron yanked, tugged, and banged it free.

The vicious enthusiasm carried them through about half the overall vehicle till space started to become scarce.

"Ready to give up, tiny" the old turtle taunted weakly.

"Past your nap time, grandpa" the little shell head fired back with less than maximum enthusiasm.

Insults traded, they went back to it. Metal scraped and crunched and crammed into bloated bellies next to nails and yards of rebar. The frame was gone, all that remained being bits and pieces and one wheel rim when Charmeleon called.

"Our winner!" he declared, holding up Carracosta's flipper.

"Yeah" he groaned, swaying about like a beachball.

Aron lay nearby, rolled on his back, vainly reaching for the last wheel rim. With great effort the bloated turtle waddled over to his defeated foe.

"Nice try kid. No hard feelings" he said.

"Hic… I feel funny."

The little shell head began to glow and Carracosta recoiled, about three inches, that was as far as he could get. When the light had faded the little shell head was gone, replaced by a big shell head.

"Lairon!"

"Will you look at that ladies and gentle'mon. And right here on our show. Tell me son, how do you feel?"

"I'm hungry" he said.

Carracosta took one look at the not so little mon, "Heeeeeeeeeeee!" and promptly passed out.

"Looks like everyone wins tonight. Thanks for coming out and we'll see you again, right here on?"

"CAST IRON!"

"That's the one. Thank you and goodnight!"


	5. little ROAR (Litleo v Poochyena)

Little Roar

…

It was high midday while the sun scorched over the savannah. Heads turned to stare as pants peeing laughter rolled across the plains like a mirthful wind. Just what was so funny, they all wondered?

Shenzi knew. The Poochyena lay on the ground barely able to breath while an angry Litleo glared at her. It was probably meant to be intimidating but it just made her remember 'it' which caused her to break down in screams of laughter yet again.

"It's not funny" Litleo complained petulantly.

Shenzi disagreed but every attempt to say so devolved into peels of mirth that made the little fire cat madder and madder. The appearance of her brothers did nothing to improve his disposition, "Who put the quarter in her?" asked Banzai.

"He, he, bwahahahahahahah" she tried, and failed, resorting to pointing an accusatory paw.

"So, what'd you do?"

"Nothing."

The denial brought a whole new wave of raucous laughter, "Don't sound like nothing to me. Ed?"

The third Poochyena chuckled something Litleo didn't understand, though his brother appeared to.

"Yeah, just what I was thinking" he said, staring at Litleo, "do it again."

"What?"

"Whatever made her laugh like that."

"He haw, he haw!"

Litleo wilted and looked away, "No."

"Why not?"

"… dun wanna" he pouted.

Looking at the fidgeting fire cat, Banzai came to an important conclusion, "Oh now you gotta."

"no" he said, but Banzai's mind was made up.

"Come on, do it. Do it, come on."

If there was one thing Banzai knew how to do it was annoy people into doing things, and he applied this skill masterfully to the short tempered Pyroar cub, "Come on, do it."

His constant poking and prodding won out and with a furious look he opened his mouth and roared, "raaaar!"

Banzai stood dumbfounded, till his sister started braying like a mule again, at which point his brain finally figured out what had just happened and what he aught be doing about it. Falling on his back he joined his sister laughing his ass off, quickly followed by the third.

"It's not funny!" Litleo shouted at the three cackling Poochyena.

They thought it was and the three of them did their best to express that, much to Litleo's chagrin.

"Shut up!"

They did not.

"I'll show you" and with that declaration he pounced on Banzai.

"Ow, oof, hey, Ed! Get him off me!"

Still cackling madly, as it was his nature to do, the third sibling tackled the little fire cat off his brother. Litleo didn't much care who he fought, so once he was back on his paws, he was all over Ed who yelped and fled from the angry Scratch attacks.

"This way Ed" called Shenzi, setting up to ambush Litleo as he followed behind.

The fight quickly devolved into a furious dust cloud battle till several minutes later when Litleo was forcibly ejected. The three Poochyena cackled as the groaning fire cat struggled to his feet.

"That all you got?" Shenzi taunted.

Then the dirty old man popped out of the ground like an overdressed Diglett, "Here, have some candy."

*Nom nom nom nom*

*Evolution*

"Oh, apricorns!"

The not so little fire cat grinned at Banzai's exclamation. The three Poochyena huddled together as Pyroar towered over them, opened his mouth and shook the savannah with a Noble Roar.

The trio shrunk back from the auditory assault, though not literally shrunk, none of them knew Minimize.

"Whatcha think of that chuckleheads?" Pyroar declared, stalking toward the three with precision menace.

The trio stumbled over each other as they retreated from the fire lion, "Aw come on man. We was just kiddin" whined Banzai, climbing over Shenzi.

"Yeah, can't ya take a joke" said Shenzi, falling over Ed.

"Nope."

Life beginning to flash before her eyes, Shenzi turned to their spectator, "Don't just stand there, help us out."

The dirty old man shrugged and pitched a handful of candy.

*Nom nom nom nom*

…?

"Nothing happened" said Banzai.

"We need more" shouted Shenzi.

Looking at the dirty old man expectantly, he turned out his pockets, crushing their final hope.

"Eh, hehe, let's be reasonable bout this."

Pyroar considered the cowering Poochyena briefly. His answer was heard across the whole savannah.

Pyroar used Roar.

Poochyena fled the battle.

"Well, that wasn't much of a fight" griped the dirty old man.

"Oh, it's not over" said Pyroar, "but it wouldn't be much of a chase if I didn't give them a head start."

… To be continued


	6. Best bitch (Arcanine v Houndoom)

Best bitch  
Arcanine v. Houndoom

…

The warehouse was cold gray concrete, identical at first glance to a million other warehouses across the region. In the dead of night under a pale slivered moon it was a great black shadow, even the windows reflected no light, blacked out as they were from the inside.

A Wingull flying overhead absently noted the human structure. Such things sometimes meant food but this one did not appear to be one of those. The windows on the south side suddenly blowing out into the night compounded this assumption and indicated it might be best not to hang around.

Within the warehouse battle raged. The secret base of the illicit criminal Team Magma, having been found out was under assault by the diligent forces of the law.

Magma grunts ran panicked about the warehouse, fleeing or fighting as their nature required. Officers moved in perfect formation, subduing and apprehending fugitives in a well-practiced and organized manner. Among them trained Growlithe carried out their duties, battling enemy Pokémon or chasing down those foolish enough to run.

The main floor was already on full lockdown and the second floor was well on its way, but up on the roof things were just heating up. One noble officer locked eyes with a single Magma gang member.

"Jody" the name, it seemed strange to say it after so long, after all that had happened.

"Jennifer" the officer hid a flinch at the way the criminal referred to her. To everyone else she was just Jenny, but her, only to her, she'd been something else.

"It's over Jody. I'm taking you in."

The female Magma smirked, "How long has it been Jennifer? First time I see you and already you're bossing me around."

She struggled against her instinct to snap back. It's what she wanted, and the disciplined officer refused to be that easy, "Come quietly."

The order made the other girl chuckle, "Oh Jennifer, you know I never 'come' quietly. Do I Doomy?"

The Houndoom nudged its master and gave a snapping growl at the officer. Said officer was not impressed, she knew the mon too well, as did her own.

"Arc!"

Her Arcanine padded quietly to her side, glaring balefully at the Houndoom who replied in kind.

"Well hello Fluffy."

"Screw off horn dog."

Like their masters they too shared history. Unlike their masters it was a far more uncomplicated relationship.

"Later" Jody smirked, turned and fled.

"Stop!" Jenny ordered, lunging to pursue.

Doomy leapt to intercept the officer but was intercepted herself by a flying Arcanine. The two bodies collided in midair and came slamming down on the hard roof in a whirl of claws and fangs while the humans ran off to do their own thing.

"Been waiting a long time for this" Doomy snapped, her teeth seeking something substantial to grasp.

"Keep waiting" headbutting the dark hound, Arc rolled away and sprang to her feet.

Doomy was only a moment behind and let out a fearsome Roar. Arc responded with her own Roar, followed by a rushing Take Down. Doomy made to dodge but wasn't quick enough and wound up taking it on the shoulder.

Smacked to one side she rolled with it and came back strong, snapping jaws full of flame going after the fluffy fire dog.

Displaying surprising Agility, Arc dodged the worst of the Fire Fang, getting caught on the tail but not a part with any meat.

"Ack! You and your fluffy butt" cursed Doomy through a mouthful of burning hair.

Never one to pass up an opportunity, Arc capitalized on Doomy's distraction and gave her tail a quick Crunch.

"Yeoohohohooooow!" she didn't appreciate it.

The two exchanged blasts of fire. Scratching and nipping and looking for an opening. Both having had a piece taken made them more cautious. Arc tried for what she saw as a clear hit and charged in with a Flare blitz.

It was a trick. Doomy feinted back then countered unexpectedly. Once in close the horned hound used the fire dog's own strength against her. It was a brutal engagement, but Arc was not above playing rough.

Both leapt back from the clash panting hard, covered in small and not small wounds.

"Foul play" Arc accused.

"Dark type" she was used to such accusations, especially from Arc.

That was okay though, she'd more than earned it with things like the Smog attack that sent Arc into a violent coughing fit.

"Damn you" she hacked, stumbling blindly trying to escape the noxious cloud.

"Curse all you want it won't do any good."

Moving in to finish the job the dark hound toppled to one side. Her front paw, damaged when Arc decided to Play Rough, refusing to support her weight any longer.

"Dammit!" she cursed her weakness before noticing how bright it was all of a sudden, "Oh double dammit!"

The Fire blast was magnificent, the perfect fusion of form and power. She would have appreciated it a lot more if it wasn't coming her direction.

The exploding conflagration put a cap on the latest in a long line of battles. Being they were both Fire types and dog like Pokémon it was never an easy fight, like combating a dark reflection or their evil double.

Either way, "Point, me" crowed Arc weakly, leaving her defeated rival with the eye swirly's and going in search of her partner.

They were working, and she was sure her Jenny had apprehended the other girl by now. She'd managed to bring down the real threat after all, the girl should have been a piece of cake.

Thinking this she was somewhat dismayed to find her girl had not apprehended the other but was still in the process. It was shameful really. She knew her Jenny could wrestle better than this and that bite, she wasn't even using her teeth, and right on the other girl's mouth. Oh goodness, it was just embarrassing.

The only thing that stopped Arc from intervening was the fact her girl was on top and seemed to be winning. The way the other was whimpering certainly suggested she was about to submit, right?


	7. Donphan Graveyard (Pyroar v Mightyena)

Little Roar – Donphan graveyard

…

Death comes to us all. Whether it be swift or slow, expected or surprise, eventually we all must walk with the reaper. For the mighty Donphan such a thing is accepted stoically. Those who live to their twilight years without a surprise ending will make a final journey when they sense their time has come.

Whether by instinct or divine foreknowledge they all know the way. Not all make it but every old head points to the same place, the Donphan graveyard.

Here lay the bones of Donphan beyond counting. A quiet, barren stretch of earth accented with great outcrops of stone and long cracks spewing sulfurous smog, choking the air with a putrid rotting stench. Even old dried bones smell of the sulfurous rot of new death.

The stinking miasma served well to hide most of the place and hinder any unwelcome from wandering to far onto the sacred ground. Being unwanted had never been a hindrance to Shenzi, Banzai, or Ed before, and they scrambled through the haunted place with desperate speed.

A long blast of flame shooting over their heads made them squeal and stumble but not enough to stop running.

"He's still after us" shrieked Banzai.

"This is so not fair" cried Shenzi.

Ed cackled something and kept on running. He may have been a chucklehead, but he wasn't stupid.

A powerful sound shook the air and the three Poochyena screamed when a bone covered outcropping rained down on them as they passed.

"He's getting closer" wept Shenzi, "We'll never outrun him."

"I don't gotta outrun him" said Banzai, "I just gotta outrun you."

"What!"

Banzai understood better than his sister the first rule of running away. It's not a matter of being faster than your pursuer, just faster than the slowest person in your party.

"You son of a bitch! Get back here" she shouted as her brother pulled ahead.

"Bringing mom into this isn't going to help, but I'll tell her you died screaming."

Cackling like a loon he poured on the speed and left Shenzi eating his dust. That might not have been so bad if Ed hadn't decided to join him.

"Traitor! Coward! Don't leave meeeEeEeEe" she screamed as her foot caught and she learned how to do Rollout the hard way, downhill.

The terrain was sloped, curved, and just overall uneven so it wasn't a simple decline but a veritable rollercoaster that tossed the poor Poochyena this way and that before depositing her into a fuming crater that then shot her screaming into the air.

Abrupt as it was, her crash landing was a still welcome finale to a highly unenjoyable ride.

"No more, I surrender" she whimpered as the world continued to spin.

Things were just starting to slow down when a scuffling of feet gave her a start. Trying to stand only succeeded in flipping her over on her back when the world refused to stop spinning, so that was how he found her, on her back with her feet in the air like a new piece of road kill.

The face grinning down at her was not the one she'd been expecting, "Oh, it's just you."

The dirty old man smiled, tipping his hat which dropped a small wrapped item into his hand. Shenzi's eyes went wide.

"Is that?" she could hardly dare to hope.

The bedraggled vagrant just smiled, "have some candy."

…

"Stupid stinking smog!"

If he'd known this was where they were headed, he wouldn't have given them such a big head start. There was a reason he'd never wandered into the Donphan graveyard, and it wasn't just because his dad told him not to. You could smell the place from miles away, like being on the wrong end of a Grumpig after ten cans of beans.

And if the smell didn't keep you out, the heavy fog and oppressive chill were enough to ward away all but the most determined, or foolish. He'd no doubt he was in for a good chewing out when he got home, which might be sooner than planned.

He'd lost track of them shortly after his Hyper Voice attack. He'd tried picking up their trail but the thick stinking cloud he was wandering through made his amateur efforts utterly fruitless.

"Crap" he grumbled, he wasn't going to find them.

It was a dig at his ego, but he wasn't so full of himself he couldn't admit he'd lost this chase. He let off a Noble Roar as he prepared to turn back but stopped when a replying Howl echoed out of the murk.

Staring through the thick yellow clouds he thought he could just make out a shape moving through the miasma. The creature that came into view was not what he expected, "Oh, it's just you."

The dirty old man slumped at hearing this, "Why is no one ever glad to see me?"

Pyroar shook his head and prepared to tell the old vagrant to get lost when the Howl came again, louder this time. He looked up through the low clouds, finding a new silhouette, standing atop a massive skull, glowing eyes staring back at him.

"There she is" said the dirty old man before scampering off out of the line of fire.

Pyroar ignored him in favor of the howler, "You comin down or you just gonna stare at me all day?"

The silhouette vanished into the cloud and reappeared on ground level, striding casually out of the murk, "Miss me" she said, once close enough to see.

Pyroar smirked, "Surprised you had the guts to come back, even if you did evolve."

Shenzi, now a Mightyena, threw a Swagger into her step walking past the watching Pyroar, "You're on my turf now" she said, "Still feel so confident?"

"I 'feel' like fighting one mutt might be beneath me" he replied.

His remark did not go over well, like a good Taunt should, "Well if you feel so bad why don't you just stand there, and I'll make this quick."

The Mightyena lunged at Pyroar with a vicious Take Down but Pyroar was ready, rolling with the hit and bouncing back with a Take Down of his own.

Shenzi was not so well prepared and took the hit full on, rolling into the murk and out of sight.

"That the best you got?" he shouted, shooting off a Flamethrower which cut through the miasma like a knife.

"Where are you aiming" she said, appearing on his left and tackling him to the ground.

"Wanna Play Rough do ya?"

Shenzi didn't bother to reply, already engaged in the pummeling of the mouthy fire lion. Never one to just lay there and take it Pyroar snapped at her with a blazing Fire Fang, sending her hopping back with a startled yelp.

"Wassa matter? Can't take the heat" the fire lion said with a flaming grin.

Shenzi gave a Snarl and rushed for another Take Down. Her attack was cut short when she ran straight into a solid wall of sound. The Hyper Voice stopped her dead then sent her flying, the powerful auditory attack clearing the stinking fog, so she was able to watch him casually stalk towards her as she struggled to stand.

He was almost on top of her, jaws dripping with flames, when a shout came out of nowhere, "Geronimo!" followed by a flying Poochyena.

"Banzai!"

Stunned by the appearance, Pyroar was too slow to dodge when Banzai crashed into him mouth first, "Yeooooow!"

Latching on with a vicious Crunch the brother Poochyena clung to Pyroar as he thrashed about trying to dislodge him. His lack of success was made worse when Ed appeared and clamped on as well.

Not about to miss her chance Shenzi, managing to make her feet, grabbed onto the nearest leg and dug in her heels. The weight of all three hanging off him was almost more than he could handle, but rather than give in, he got mad.

"Hey, is he getting hot or is it just me?" asked Banzai through a mouthful of glowing Pyroar.

The Overheat blasted the trio into the miasma like Team Rocket blasting off again, disappearing and leaving Pyroar panting and exhausted.

"Ha, laugh that off" he groaned, "that, wasn't so bad."

"I give it a seven out of ten."

The young Pyroar gave an undignified yelp, jumping like a startled Skitty. And, if humiliating himself wasn't bad enough, he had to do it in front of the one mon he did not want to see, "Dad! Hi."

His father lifted a single eyebrow and the young Pyroar felt like he'd just learned Minimize, "I, uh, I bet your wondering what I'm doing here, well, I can explain."

"I look forward to hearing it."

Groaning at his father's reply, he followed him like a naughty kitten as they headed home, taunting laughter echoing behind him all the way.


	8. Battle of the ancients

Battle of the Ancients

…

Long ago, in ancient times, when the planet was young and evolution was a means of survival, not just a thing that happened because of the power of friendship, the old ones did battle.

Tirtouga, grandfather of turtle Pokémon, floated along the warm prehistoric waves in search of food. Spotting the familiar spiral shell of an Omanyte, he turned his flippers toward the shore.

Coming onto the beach he began flopping toward his meal. He wasn't very fast on land, but neither was an Omanyte and it had yet to notice him. It wiggled now and again, probably eating something. It had no idea he was there.

One final flop, and with a mighty toss he threw himself on top of the shell and bit right through with a satisfying crunch.

"Hey! What the heck do you think you're doing?"

Tirtouga was shocked at the inquiry. Normally when he bit things they just cried and screamed. This was new, "I'm eating."

"I was here first."

Peering over the shell, he discovered it was not his prey talking back, though it wasn't much better, "Shoo pest."

"Don't shoo me, I was here first" the Kabuto shouted.

"Mm don't care. Mine now."

Kabuto disagreed and gave the dead Omanyte a hard shove, knocking the turtle Pokémon off, flopping backing onto his shell where he squirmed helplessly.

"Ha-ha, serves you right!"

"Oh, you!" Tirtouga thrashed around the sand furiously but could not get himself flipped over. Fortunately, a wave hit the beach that did it for him, "Ha, now you're mine."

"Bring it on shell back."

The two ancient Pokémon circled the Omanyte carcass inch by agonizing inch. They would have done it faster but neither one was properly adapted to the land that way.

Just when it looked like they might not even reach each other before nightfall, the dirty old cave man showed up, "Unga Bunga, oof!"

"Nomnomnomnom."

*Prehistoric Evolution*

"Haaaaaaaa! That's more like it" declared Carracosta.

Kabutops was too busy inspecting his new form to declare, "I have legs. And these, what are these, claws?"

Distracted by his new body, he was not so distracted he didn't see the turtle sneaking toward his Omanyte, "Hey! That's mine."

Seeing he'd been made, Carracosta rushed the carcass. Kabutops was faster. Blasting in with an Aqua Jet, he tackled the turtle away from his meal. Carracosta responded with a Water Gun right in his face.

The two Pokémon tumbled apart and came up facing each other.

"You're mincemeat shell back."

"Come get some flathead."

Kabutops blasted forward again, claws ready to make good on his threat. Carracosta retaliated with a blast of Brine then a Hydro Pump. Both missed but they succeeded in diverting Kabutops attack.

Digging a claw into the sand, he hurled it at the turtle who covered from the Sand Attack at the last second. Kabutops used the momentary blind spot and charged in, his sickle appendages carving a wicked Slash at Carracosta's head.

The turtle saw it just before it hit and was saved a debilitating wound by the hardened mask on his face. Seizing the opportunity, he gave a Crunch to the appendage within biting range which shattered under his powerful jaws.

"Son of a bitch!" Kabutops screamed, flailing with his remaining blade and scoring a long gash across the turtle's belly.

Stumbling back with a hiss, Carracosta called upon the Ancient Power, raising stones out of the sand and bombarding Kabutops. Kabutops yielded under the assault, giving ground and using his flat shield like skull to defend his more squishy parts.

"Give up?"

His answer was a Rock Throw bounced off his head, "Over my rotting corpse."

Once again Kabutops blasted forward on his Aqua Jet but Carracosta had figured this trick out. He presented his tough shell to the slashing sickle blade, and just as Kabutops passed by, the Aqua Tail struck, lifting him off the ground and throwing him across the beach.

He slid to a hard stop at the base of a medium sized boulder covered in coral. His head made an ominous crack upon impact and the whole world seemed to shake as he tried to get up.

He barely registered when Carracosta took hold of his head. The first slam against the rock hurt. The second didn't. The third, he never even felt.

"Well look at that, there's a squishy inside" Carracosta chuckled as he opened up the cracked cranium of his defeated foe, "Now, where is that Omanyte?"

A quick scan of the beach revealed his meal had disappeared. Frowning, he looked down at the meat in his flippers, "Well, it's no Omanyte but I guess it'll have to do."


	9. The Grudge

Grudge

…

Grudge. Ever since the earliest days of Pokémon there have been those who would fight one another with no obvious provocation. The three elemental birds of legend whose grudge was foretold would one day destroy the world are a fine example.

But to bring it down to a less world ending scale, one need look no further than the unending grudge between Zangoose and Seviper.

…

Shift and stare, it was a dance known to all Zangoose. Never take your eyes off them. Prepare to strike at any moment. Shift and stare. That was how they circled each other, slowly, deliberately.

When a Zangoose and a Seviper met, battle was inevitable. No one really knew why, not even them, but the burning ire, the sheer repulsion that even one of them should live drove them to battle every time.

The Seviper led, rushing in mouth open, ready to deliver a vicious Bite. Zangoose dodged and responded with a Slash that bounced of one of his enemies fangs.

The strike made Seviper wary and Zangoose took the initiative, rushing in with a Fury Cutter that had the snake lashing back and forth defensively. One such lash turned into a Poison Tail attack that Zangoose countered with a well time False Swipe.

Seeing it was bested, the Seviper made to flee, opening it up to a quick and fatal Pursuit. One strike and it was over. Chalk up another point for Zangoose in the never-ending grudge match against Seviper.

His sense of satisfaction was dulled by the ease of the victory. The fight had been much to simple. It made Zangoose suspicious. Honing his sense, he thought he could Detect something. Following it he came to a small ledge, at the bottom of which was a pit, and in that pit a dozen young Seviper.

The bile rose in the back of his throat. Twelve of them, twelve Seviper. The mere sight of them was almost more than he could stand. A brief pause to Hone Claws and he leapt into the pit.

His opening attack was a perfect surprise. His Crush Claw heralded his arrival and had all the others up in Coil. He wasted no time striking out again at the nearest with a deadly Slash. Blood spurted but he paid it no mind as the battle came to him. Poison Fang descended en masse, and he was forced to dodge all the way back to the edge of the pit.

The little snakes were surprisingly coordinated. Driving him into little traps that got their fangs dangerously close. A Swords Dance made them wary and he used their hesitation to Crush Claw another before they resumed their attack.

The battle rage all around the nest. The young Seviper were quick but this Zangoose was a seasoned fighter. It didn't take long before only three remained but that was when things turned.

A quick lunge, another head removed, but it wasn't enough. The head, detached from its body, flew past Zangoose guard and clamped onto his leg.

Zangoose cursed at the sting of the poisonous bite. Furiously he tore the offending fangs from his leg and hurled the head at the other two. The assault startled them and Zangoose used the opportunity to end them.

A single Slash, a pair of heads, and the fight was over. Zangoose fell to his knees exhausted. He felt the sting of the poison in his leg spreading and knew he needed to take care of it quickly.

Making to stand, he was alerted to another presence by the cracking of old egg shells. Turning to face his enemy he was blasted with a Venoshock before he ever got a look.

The potency of the attack was even greater with the poison already running through his veins and the attack brought him back to his knees, hands as well.

He heard his newest opponent slowly circling him and he didn't need to see it to know what it was. Stupid, how could he have been so stupid. Of course, the mother would be near her nest. The first one he'd killed must have been the father.

Fighting to rise he was powerless to resist the muscular coils that wrapped around him and began to squeeze.

It was over. He was exhausted and poisoned, and she was fresh and read to Wring Out what little he had left. Still, as darkness took him, he couldn't help feeling a little accomplished. In one day, he'd slain thirteen of the hated enemy. She'd only managed to kill the one him.

With a fatalistic grin, he succumbed to her lethal grip and faded into the darkness.


	10. Just Beak it

Just Beak It

…

Trees. Trees were great. Just ask any bird Pokémon, even the ones that couldn't fly (dodo's) and they'd tell you, at length, just how gosh dern great trees were. That isn't to say all trees were equally great, cuz they weren't.

There were many trees in the park from the six-footer to the sixty. Some had long, scraggly, reaching branches while others wove together in bushy artistic clumps. Each tree had its merits and much debate had been about the relative quality of each.

All except one. One single tree that had required no discussion. Simply put, it was the best.

It was a beautiful old tree, vibrant and green. It was a fruit tree, with delicious berries that seemed without end. The very best tree was at the very center of the park, marking it as a place of honor if its superior qualities hadn't already done so.

And as anyone can tell you, when something has been unanimously declared 'the best', everybody wants a piece of it.

…

"Yeah! Howda ya like that."

"Oo, big tough guy, not so tough now are ya, huh!"

"Haha, lookit im, lookit im cry."

The little Pidgey cowered under the assault from the trio of Murkrow. He'd only wandered away from the flock for a second before the big black bully birds had jumped him. Daringly he tried to Peck at the nearest one, but this only earned him a condescending Double Slap.

"Still got some fight in im."

"Let's pull his head off and dump it out."

The three Murkrow cackled at the Pidgey's terrified expression, laughing riotously till someone cleared their throat.

"Boss!"

The trio fell over themselves to show proper reverence under the disdainful eye of their Honchkrow. The larger bird gave the trembling Pidgey a glance before sending it bounding across the grass with a single smack of its wing.

"Scram kid! Got no time for ya, see."

Needing no further 'encouragement', the little bird scampered off.

"Aw, we wasn't done with that."

The big boss bird gave a disgusted snort, "And that's why you'll always be small time. Ya think small. You don't see me wastin time on these low rent rackets. No! I'm a big thinker, I got aspirations."

"What's an aspirin nation?"

Giving his minion a corrective Double Slap, the big bird took the lesser avian by the beak, "See that?" he asked, directing his underling's attention to a certain tree.

"Yeah boss, I see dat."

"That is going to belong to me."

"What! Oof!" the Murkrow stared up at the larger bird in disbelief, "But Boss, that's the best tree."

"Yeah."

"But the Pidgey own the best tree."

And they defended it fiercely. Theirs was the largest flock in the park and the most powerful. Even as the Honchkrow stared with eyes full of wanton hunger a pair of Pidgeotto watched over a horde of smaller Pidgey.

"You're not afraid of a little Pidgey are ya?"

The Murkrow vehemently shook his head.

"Good, then spread the word. Tomorrow we take it."

"But, what about the Pidgeotto Boss?"

"Now listen here, see. You just leave them to me."

Word spread quickly, and then they came. Their numbers were still nothing compared to the Pidgey but Honchkrow was pleased. His black birds were easily a match for any three or four Pidgey.

"We attack at dawn, see!"

The sun was just cresting the horizon as they silently assembled in the trees all around their target. The Pidgey had just begun to stir with the first light of morning and sleep was slow to lift.

Honchkrow smirked, "Take'em."

In ones and two's, they took to the wing, gliding quietly, creeping close as possible before drawing attention. They were practically into the tree before the first little bird noticed and started squawking.

Honchkrow snickered from his perch as his minions terrorized the tiny birds out of their nests. Some tried to fight back but they were groggy and unfocused, easy pickings. He sat reveling in the mayhem till he saw them. The Pidgeotto were preceded by a trio of fleeing Murkrow who fell out of the tree as the Pidgeotto shot into the air.

"Showtime." The big black bird was up and moving to intercept before either saw him. All according to plan.

"Haha, one little two little three little Pidgey," the Murkrow cackled as the frightened little birds huddled together, terrified.

"Aw, lookit'em shake. Shake little Pidgey's, come on, shake!"

"No, you shake," cried a defiant voice before it tackled the nearest Murkrow.

"Ow, hey, ow, ow, guys, HELP!"

The Pidgey was undeterred and pecked the bully bird viciously, knocking him off the branch just as the next moved into attack, "Well look who it is. Didn't learn your lesson last time pipsqueak?"

The daring Pidgey had in fact learned from his encounter the previous day. Never give'em an inch. Ignoring the Murkrow's taunting he went for the Tackle. The Murkrow was bigger but the Pidgey was faster and never let up.

Up above the tree the Pidgeotto weren't doing nearly so well. The larger Honchkrow was easily fighting the both of them, his move set and superior size giving him a distinct advantage. One of the Pidgeotto had tried fleeing to the tree only to nearly be taken out by a Pursuit. She was now flying as backup, too slow to really pose a threat to the gangster bird.

"Go on, runaway, this tree is mine, see."

"We'll never let you have it," the Pidgeotto declared, surging forward with a basic Quick Attack.

Unimpressed, Honchkrow countered with a devastating display of Agility, punctuated by a Night Slash that sent the Pidgeotto spiraling toward the ground.

"Nooooo!" the other Pidgeotto dove after the first only to join her when Honchkrow knocked her out of the sky.

"Ha ha! The tree is mine," he declared prematurely, a blinding light from the tree signaling the fight was not yet over.

A cacophony of startled squawking preceded his minions as they fled the tree, chased by a very angry looking Pidgeotto.

"Oh pinfeathers."

Seeing him hovering overhead, his cronies fled in his direction, forming up defensively around their Boss. More for their defense than his he suspected.

"Well what do we have here?" he crowed mockingly. "Move along boy. I got no time for ya, see."

"This is our tree," he cried defiantly. "I won't let you have it."

The Honchkrow laughed, "This fight is over, see. You lost."

The young Pidgeotto looked hesitant but then smiled, "Not yet."

Before he had time to ponder the other birds sudden change in demeanor his flock was hit by an incredible force. More than half the Murkrow dropped from the sky, those who didn't fought to stay aloft.

The attacker came back around and Honchkrow saw it was a Pidgeot. That had not been part of the plan. He wasn't sure how he'd match up against such a foe and the young Pidgeotto didn't give him a chance to find out.

The Wing Attack smacked him hard enough to ring his bell. He shook it off but by the time he had the Pidgeot was hovering just above him, the young Pidgeotto coming up beside.

He didn't like the odds, "Alright, let's beak it boys. Mark my words. You haven't seen the last of us, seeEeeEeeEeEeEe!" His final declaration was slowly lost beneath the roar of the Whirlwind.


	11. Go MEGA!

Go Mega

…

There's something about your first time you never forget… No, not that first time, pervert. Your first 'Super form'.

For example.

Pinsir was just skulking through the forest, looking for his next meal when he came across that stupid Heracross, sucking sap out of a tree like a big dumb sucker.

He hated Heracross. Why? Uh… he had a stupid face. Yeah, that's it.

He beaned the stupid sap sucker with a rock and laughed when he fell off the tree, stunned. It didn't last long, and the horned bug was up and getting in his face.

Honestly, some mon just couldn't take a joke.

He was about ready to tell the sap sucker where he could get off, when the dirty old man showed up, "Here, have some candyyyyyyoh. That doesn't work here. Hold on a second."

Rummaging around in his pockets he tossed out an assortment of odds and ends. Buttons, thread, lint, and more suspicious items like a half-used roll of duct tape and a funny smelling rag, "That, uh, don't know how that got in there. Ah, here it is."

Pulling a metal ring with a strange stone embedded, he slid the item over his wrist and thrust his arm into the air, "GO, MEGA!"

A brilliant light washed over the two bugs and filled them with power untold. For the first time in either's lives, they achieved evolution.

*MEGA EVOLUTION*

The two bugs roared as energy surged through their new forms. Such strength, such fury, say it with me. "IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!"

Coursing with power and fury, Pinsir did about what you'd expect someone in their first super form to do. He punched the newly ascended Heracross hard enough to break bricks.

The transmuted horned bug staggered, glaring angrily at his attacker. Pinsir, drunk on power, gestured 'bring it on'. Heracross needed no encouragement, responding with his own Brick Break strike. Pinsir staggered but came back fast, catching Heracross in a crushing Vice Grip.

Heracross struggled vainly against the crushing might of Pinsir's horns. Pinsir grinned wickedly at his superior position till Heracross blasted him in the face with a Pin Missile, forcing him to drop the other bug.

Heracross began pushing Pinsir back with a barrage of Horn Attack the other bug struggled to defend against. Panicked, Pinsir revved his wings, a new feature of his mega form, and shot into the air.

The move startled both bugs and the two stared for a moment before Pinsir realized he had the advantage and shot downward at Heracross. The Reversal was unanticipated and slammed him into the nearest tree.

Heracross shot at him but Pinsir quickly shot back into the air. He was greatly dismayed when Heracross shell opened to reveal his own wings which revved like a motor.

"Aw crap!"

Heracross surged into the air, horn glowing with violent power. Pinsir managed a miraculous midair dodge, leaving Heracross to tear through the nearest tree like it were paper.

Pinsir rushed his back with a devastating X-Scissor, aiming to end the fight in a single powerful move, but he underestimated Heracross speed. His attack was countered with a well-timed Horn Attack and followed up with a prolonged Close Combat as the two fighters zipped around like lightning bugs pummeling each other.

However, since this isn't Dragon Ball, we aren't gonna drag this fight out for chapters and chapters.

Seeing his opponent slowing, Pinsir decided to finish the fight. Revving his wings like a sonic jet he charged the other bug, intent on cutting him in two. His Guillotine was perfect, all within his horns was torn neatly in twain. Too bad Heracross hadn't been between his horns.

In a crafty ploy, he'd hovered in place till the last second then dropped, neatly missing his execution and passing it off to the tree behind him. But that wasn't all.

From beneath, his opponent was wide open and Heracross blasted that opening with his best Megahorn. Heracross, with Pinsir on the end of his horn, rode the attack up and out of the canopy before turning it around and hurtling to the ground.

Crawling out of the newly created crater, no longer 'Mega' Heracross left the shattered Pinsir and went in search of a new sap tree to suck on. After such a tough fight he deserved a treat.

…afterthought

Author: Okay, forget the other stuff, where the hell did you get a Mega Ring?

Dirty old man: I know a guy.

Author: … Why are you not in jail?

Dirty old man: …


	12. War with the roses

War with the Roses, or, Blush and Bloom

…

It was a long trek through the endless wood. Such a great sojourn was difficult, peril and hardship around every corner. In such dire straits even the faintest glimmer of light is a brilliant beam.

And so it was, the sparkling pond glittering in the unshaded light shone like the golden gates of El Dorado when they first lay eyes on it.

"Are you seeing what I am Ludi?"

"Water?"

"Water!"

The Sunflora squealed in excitement and began dancing toward the pond with the beaming Ludicolo. One might wonder how such an odd couple came to be traveling together, ah but that's for another time.

(Oh now, don't pout.)

A rain of Toxic Spikes halted their dancing and sent them scrambling back, "Well, well, what do we have here Blush?"

"Looks like trespassers to me Bloom. Oh poo."

A pair of shapes leapt from the shadows, coming together to block the path.

"You know it's very rude to just show up uninvited," said the Roselia, displaying her flowers, red and blue.

"Oh very, very rude indeed," said the other Roselia, displaying her flowers, purple and… orange?

"That is so weird," whispered Ludicolo, unable to keep from staring.

"Oh Blush, look, 'it's' staring. How indecent. I feel so, so wilted."

"Now, now dear heart, pay that brute no mind," said the blue and red Roselia, Blush. "Go on now brute, away with you, shoo."

Mildly embarrassed, but mostly confounded, Ludicolo opened his mouth but was immediately cut off.

"Why are you still here, shoo!" insisted the purple and orange Roselia, Bloom.

"Not terribly quick, is it Bloom?"

"Terribly un-quick Blush."

Seeing her friend being so viciously shamed, the normally happy go lucky Sunflora jumped to his defense, "Now wait just a Cotton Spore pickin minute, that's not fair."

"Oh, look sister, the other one is talking. How droll."

"I had thought it must be mute. Pity really, it seemed smarter then." And the two Roselia did laugh. Not just any laugh, but 'that' laugh. You know the one. The princess laugh.

"Why you," growled Sunflora.

"Look, we don't want any trouble," said Ludicolo, hoping to prevent his friend from doing anything rash, "we just wanted to go over there."

"NO!" the duo stated.

"Wah! Why not?" demanded Sunflora.

"That belongs to us," said Blush.

"And we said no," said Bloom, "now shoo."

It didn't appear as if the two Roselia could be reasoned with and given the way his usually sunny friend was glaring at them, Ludicolo was pretty sure there'd be no reasoning with her either.

With all that in mind, he made an executive decision, "Bum Rush!"

Ludicolo charged forward, screaming at the top of his lungs. The two Roselia shook their heads, raised their roses, and filled him with Poison Sting.

"Retreat!" he screamed in pain, exercising the better part of valor only to forget about the poisonous barbs on the ground, "Aaaaaaaaah! Oh! Ouch! Yeek! Gah!"

"Quite the buffoon, isn't he Blush?'

"Let's make him suffer some more Bloom."

The two wicked thorns sashayed forward but Sunflora was not about to let them pass, "Hold it right there!" the two rose Pokémon scattered when Sunflora fired off a Bullet Seed.

"Oh my, how dreadful."

"You really wouldn't expect such hostility from a sunflower."

"Stand still!" the sunflower demanded, tossing out Razor Leaf like they were candy at a parade.

"Is it autumn already?"

"Must be. Look at all the leaves falling."

Blush and Bloom danced around the attack with poise and grace. Sunflora didn't notice the petals they were scattering till they completed the attack and blasted her with a Petal Blizzard.

"Such abrupt weather we're having."

"I blame climate change."

Sunflora shot the two tittering roses a scowl which only made them titter harder. They continued tittering right up until the Bubble Beam blasted them off their feet.

"Ha ha, score!" shouted Ludicolo, dancing triumphantly.

"Why that!"

"Inexcusable! Totally inexcusable!"

Furiously dripping the Roselia fired Poison Sting like venomous rain. Infuriatingly, Ludicolo avoided their attack and rushed them again, launching a Zen Headbutt that separated the two furious flowers.

"Divide and conquer," he shouted, running down the purple and orange with his Fury Swipes.

"Barbarian!" cried Bloom, effortlessly dancing around his attacks while acting so very put out. "I think you need a nap."

Ludicolo thought it an odd thing to say till she got right in his face and blew an odd whistle. Quite suddenly he found her idea to have some merit.

"Hehe, nighty night you but uh, oh dear."

The larger mon flopped over onto the prickly rose, fast asleep, much to her consternation, "Oh! This is just! OO! Blush! Help! Get this fat fruit off of me!"

Blush normally would have been swift to assist but she had her hands full with a very angry sunflower. Bad enough she chucked Razor Leaf like shuriken, but she'd then capitalized on that by conjuring up a Leaf Storm.

A quick Synthesis had undone most of the damage and the rapid pace of the battle was beginning to wear on the sun hungry Pokémon as they duked it out in the shade. Sunflora halted her assault to stop and pant giving Blush her opening. Poison Sting rained on the sunny grass mon who shrieked in protest.

"You should quit while you still have a chance," Blush taunted.

"Never!" cried Sunflora, whipping a razor leaf at the red and blue Roselia.

The leaf was intercepted by a purple petal and Sunflora flinched when the off color Roselia rejoined her sister.

"Got yourself out?"

"Wilted darling. Absolutely wilted," she complained, feigning a horrified shudder.

"Now, now dear heart, let's finish up and then I'll give you a nice pruning."

"You always know just the right thing to say."

Outnumbered, Sunflora watched in horror as the two began dancing around scattering petals which floated menacingly on a growing breeze. Sunflora hurled Razor Leaf with frantic abandon but they were rebuffed by the growing petal cloud, flying off in random directions.

The attack had just reached its peak when it happened. All those Razor Leaf failing to get near their target had instead cut through the canopy and opened a hole. Sun shone down on the three grass Pokémon causing them to pause in surprise.

"Well, that was unexpected."

"Indeed. Now, where were we."

The rose Pokémon returned their attention to Sunflora only to find the sunflower Pokémon grinning, and glowing.

"Eat lasers!"

Brimming with new power Sunflora unleashed a powerful Solar Beam, blasting through the Petal Dance and rendering is pieces to so much smoking ash.

Ironically, it completely missed hitting either Roselia.

"What, an, idiot."

"So embarrassing, it really is."

Prepping to commence their attack again on the exhausted, wavering sunflower, they were interrupted by a cacophonous Uproar behind them.

"Are you joking?"

"When did he wake up?"

Ludicolo, having snapped out of his sleep, was prancing around in the pond singing, something, as loud as he possibly could.

"He can't do that!"

"Hey! You get out of…"

"One side losers!"

Shoving them out of her way, Sunflora staggered drunkenly toward the pond and her friend.

Sitting where they'd been so rudely shoved, Blush and Bloom could naught but pout.

"Well, that's just…"

"Fine! Just… FINE!"


	13. The cat's Meouch

The cats Me ouch 'or' I hate Mondays

…

"Shiny."

Meowth love the things that glitter and gleam. There's just no two ways about it.

"Shiny!"

A trait they share with the despicable black bird Pokémon Murkrow.

"Shiiiiiny!"

Once spotted, such objects will be pursued with dogged determination, which is kind of ironic for a cat.

"SHINY!"

No matter where it is, no matter the obstacles, nothing will keep a Meowth from its prize. And woe betide any who try.

…

"Shiny. Shiny. Gotta get da shiny. Get da shiny. Gotta get it. Gotta, shiny!"

From her high perch Glameow chortled as she led the little simpleton around with an old sparkly wrapper, using a small bit of string stuck to it and dragging it around with her tail. Not that she needed to be so stealthy, she could have been carrying it in her mouth and he'd still have chased it.

"Shiny, shiny, where'd it... there it is!"

The little Meowth dove at the shiny wrapper, oblivious to all around him, or in front of him. Her post shook from the impact and Glameow burst out laughing. This was the third time she'd gotten him to do that.

"Shu du, shiny… where da shiny?" Slurring drunkenly, he fell over himself in a tragically humorous attempt to stand.

Glameow roared with laughter. It was one of the rare occasions the little blockhead was good for something. Sadly, it couldn't last, and the sound of her mirth drew his attention.

"Hey, did you see my shiny?" the little Meowth asked.

Fighting down the snickers with an imperious air, "I really couldn't say."

Meowth glared, "You got it don't you!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous you little pest." Of course I do.

With obnoxious determination Meowth leapt onto the pole and started climbing up to her perch. Glameow was not impressed, waiting only till he was close enough to reach before swatting him on the nose.

The little shiny seeker lost his grip and tumbled back to the floor. Glameow stared down at the dazed cat with predatory disdain, "You forget your place little one," she purred dangerously. "Do that again and it won't be the paw, but the claw."

As the smaller, Meowth couldn't help being intimidated by the larger cat. It wasn't enough to keep him from putting on a brave face, "I want the shiny."

Glameow scoffed at his bravado but decided it simpler to give in rather than continue dealing with him, "Here."

Carelessly tossing the bit of sparkling paper it began floating across the room. Meowth followed beneath, waiting for it to come low enough to pounce. Turned out the room was too short for that.

The hot water pipes rang like bells and Glameow nearly fell off her perch laughing as Meowth lay concussed on the floor, his shiny floating out the window.

"Shiny," he whimpered.

"Oh, sweet Arceus, you are just too much," Glameow cackled.

"An yur a big jerk," Meowth slurred angrily, pawing the air like he thought his attacks might reach her.

"Be careful bug, those are fighting words."

And you know what that means.

"Here, have some…"

"SHINY!"

"Huh?"

Meowth launched himself at the dirty old man the moment he saw the shiny wrapped candies in his hand. The fight was short, brutal, and comically one sided. It wasn't till the filthy vagrant was on the floor that Meowth got a good look at his shiny's.

"OO!"

"Nom nom nom nom."

*Evolution*

"Now that's more like it," growled Persian, giving his sleek new form a full once over.

Glameow just shook her head giving the dirty old man a disdainful eye, "How did you even get in here anyway?"

"Gentleman caller," he said with what was undoubtedly meant to be a charming grin.

"Pfft! If you're a gentleman, then I'm Jirachi."

"Does that mean I get a wish?"

Glameow did not care for the old man's cheek, "No, but in a moment, you're going to wish you were never born."

The old man barely had time to gulp before Glameow was on him in a flurry of fangs and claws.

When the dust cleared, the dirty vagrant looked much worse for wear and Glameow sat on top of the filthy human with a single shiny wrapper held by her dexterous tail.

"Hm, spoils."

"nom nom nom."

*Evolution*

The old man groaned under the sudden increase in weight and Purugly swatted him for his rude insinuation, "Some people just have no manners."

"Fat!" the old man grumbled.

"Ah! How dare you call me fat," the newly evolved hefty feline yowled, viciously cinching her tail around her waist, "does this look fat to you?"

The old man grumbled something unintelligible but before Purugly could shred him to ribbons, the new Persian interjected himself into the conversation.

"What do you want?" Purugly asked, recoiling at his proximity.

"Shiny!" looking over her shoulder Purugly found the wrapper from her prize was stuck in the coiling of her tail. "Want the shiny."

"Well tough," she said. "Now shoo!" a quick bop on the nose caused Persian to stagger back in surprise, but not for long.

"Want the shiny," he growled.

Purugly glared, "I warned you."

And she wasn't about to accept any kind of challenge to her authority. She led with a surprise Sucker punch, knocking Persian across the floor.

"You shouldn't have crossed me kitten." Leaping up she descended in a powerful Body Slam that only just missed the quick footed Persian.

"I had to cross you. Going around would have taken too long." Purugly glared at the Taunt and performed a quick Hone Claws.

"Obnoxious twerp. Know your place!" The Slash attack neatly bisected a nearby lamp but Persian was too quick.

A Swift attack had Purugly seeing stars but not enough to keep from avoiding the Bite that followed it. Persian decided to Play Rough and Purugly replied with a Fury of Swipes as they rolled around the room in a furious ball of yowling claws.

The rolling brawl ended with a Fake Out from Persian. The two sprang apart but never lost sight of each other. Panting heavily, they glared. Panted and glared.

"What, is that it?" demanded the dirty old man.

(Well, what do you expect from a couple house cats?)

Waiting for their second wind to kick in the tempered felines angrily held the others gaze. Purugly glared with particular heat, having been challenged and not promptly trounced the pipsqueak. It irked her. Intolerably so!

Glaring with all her might she suddenly felt herself nodding, exhausted. She fought the urge, yet it persisted, traveling into her other parts which began to sag and droop heavily. As her body betrayed her will, her mind fought furiously against the creeping sluggishness.

Stupid little blockhead thought he could challenge her just because he got all evolved. Well, she'd show him, him and his stupid glowy eyes. After she took a quick nap.

Flopping to the ground with a resounding 'oof', Purugly drifted off to dreamland. Satisfied his Hypnosis had done its work, Persian trotted over to the corpulent cat beast and retrieved his prize.

"Spoils," he said through the shiny wrapper in his mouth.

"Well that's fine," said the 'gentleman caller', "now what?"

Persian pondered for a moment. He was ostensibly the boss. If she was him, what would be the next step.

"I think I'll take a page out of the Garfield playbook," said Persian. "We need a large box with holes, and the mailing address for Abu Dhabi."

(If you got that reference, Congrats! You're old.)

...

Happy Fools day everyone!


	14. This is gonna be epic

This is gonna be epic  
Hitmonchan vs. Hitmonlee

…

It was well into midday and the sun shone with oppressive scorn beating down on the dusty earth. Water rose off the river in invisible clouds that made the air thick and heavy. High noon out in the open, life fought a desperate, near impossible battle just to carry on. Inside the warehouse however it was damp and cool, an ideal escape and equally excellent stage for what was to come.

In the middle of the building, cold and gray, the trio met. Two glared, as one would expect of tested rivals. The third looked back and forth between the two with timid concern. He won't be long for this fic.

"Guys, come on, let's not fight." A shameful thing to say for any Fighting type, but particularly egregious for a Tyrogue.

His plea fell on deaf ears, the other two not so much as batting an eye. They had no interest in his silly attempts at 'peace' or 'reconciliation'. For this there would be, could be, no compromise.

"Fists," stated one.

"Feet," countered the other.

"Guys, come on," whined the third.

"Fists!"

"Feet!"

It was an argument as old as time, as the art of combat. To apply one's force, which was superior?

"Fists!"

"Feet!"

At a young age the two Tyrogue had chosen their sides and thus, a rivalry was born.

"Fists!"

"Feet!"

"Guuuuuuys!"

Normally it would have come to blows by this point but thanks to the presence of the third the fight was getting nowhere. Then the dirty old man showed up.

"Here, have some candy."

Nom nom nom nom.

*Evolution*

"Oh my Arceus look! Look you guys! I'm a Hitmontop! Guys. Guys?"

The two Tyrogue turned their noses at the eye-catching wrappers littering the floor.

"Do you know how much sugar is in one of those?"

"Not gonna screw up my nutrition."

The dirty old man stood dumbfounded. This had never happened before. Then the guy bro strutted in.

"Dude, you gotta try this Protein bar."

Nom nom nom nom.

"This shake is packed with Iron."

Glug glug glug glug.

*EVOLUTION*

"CHAN!"

"LEE!"

"DUDE!"

Evolution. Sweet, sweet evolution, finally. There could be no doubts now, no question at all.

"Fists!"

"Feet!"

"Both!"

The two rivals stared at the third as he hopped and spun and twirled, showing off his 'versatility' (blech). A look was shared and as one they moved.

KA*BOOM!

"Hitmontooooooooooop!" Through the ceiling and out of the fic.

"Never did like that guy."

"Good riddance. Now, where were we? Oh yeah."

The gym bro nudged the dirty old man, "Dude, this is gonna be epic."

Hitmonchan vs. Hitmonlee

Fight!

Ever quick on his feet Hitmonlee started, rushing with a stream of Double kick's. Holding up his mighty meat mashers Hitmonchan weathered the assault, staying in close to minimize the strength of the attacks.

Hitmonlee saw right through the strategy and countered by going up and delivering a punishing Jump kick. Hitmonchan dodged back then rushed in with a frigid strike.

The Ice punch sent chills through Hitmonlee and he quickly made distance between them, "Some cold shoulder," he quipped, brushing frost off his arms.

"You think that was bad, you're in for a shock." He rushed forward, fist sparking for a powerful Thunder punch.

Hitmonlee decided to make use of his environment and got some altitude on a nearby stack of wooden crates. Hitmonchan's punch whiffed, almost sending him headlong into the empty packing boxes. Growling, he mounted the nearest and pursued his rival who had taken to the beams in the rafters.

The moment he touched down he was under assault, Hitmonlee peppering him with kick after kick. The narrow beam made any complex maneuver nearly impossible and he was suffering terribly under the unending barrage.

He was caught off guard when the foot fanatic changed things up with a Rolling kick. Getting under his defense the hit knocked the wind out of him and nearly sent him off the beam.

"Watch your footing," Hitmonlee taunted.

Hitmonchan just growled and fought the inevitable pull of gravity with all his might. He needed to move the fight, before the invisible forces did it for him. He tanked hits while desperately seeking new ground. What he found wasn't ideal, but it would work, hopefully.

Jumping back, and narrowly avoiding a plummet, he flung himself toward a high stack of crates. It was a long jump, he was afraid he was going to miss till the moment he touched down, smashing through the top most box.

"Torchic!" Hitmonlee yelled.

Chunks of broken crate came flying in response, all of which were smacked out of the air by a swift snapping foot.

"Come on! This isn't even good exerc… oh!" his tune changed when the first whole crate came sailing through the air.

A solid Mega kick turned the crate to splinters, and the next, and the next. The fourth smashed easily as the others but it hid a foul surprise, a Hitmonchan with a Fire punch to slip past his guard.

It was a desperation strike that knocked Hitmonlee off the beam. So desperate, it sent Hitmonchan down after him. Unable to control his descent Hitmonlee was fortunate enough to land in a nice, soft, pile of wooden crates.

Descending head first, Hitmonchan had sufficient opportunity to plan his 'landing'. Stretching out both fists like a classic Superman, Hitmonchan punched the ground. The meteoric force cratered the hard-concrete floor and sent shockwaves rippling all down the length of the fighter.

Wobbling like a flagpole on a windy day, Hitmonchan bent, placing his feet back on the ground before pulling his fits out of it.

"Well, that wasn't…"

A flying crate preempted, knocking him to the ground. Hitmonlee glared from his mess of broken boxes. Bruised and panting he staggered toward Hitmonchan, "Are you crazy?"

Hitmonchan chuckled at the furious assertion, hauling himself up and raising his fists, "You ain't seen crazy. I'ma show you crazy!"

… Several hours and one display of crazy later

"… fists."

Wheeze… wheeze, "feet."

"Are you two at it again?"

Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan looked up from their positions on the floor and beheld a vision.

"Medi…"

"Cham."

"Honestly, you two and your stupid arguments," complained Medicham. "Look at this mess. Do you know how long it's gonna take to clean this up?"

They did not, and even if they had neither would have dared interrupt their goddess while she was speaking.

"All day, nothing but the same old thing. You know I have better ways I could be spending my time. I should be preparing for the tournament, not cleaning up after you two."

Walking away she continued to grumble. Unable to must much strength they could barely turn their heads to watch.

"She's mad again."

"Yep."

"Think she might be on to something?"

"You mean about the argument?"

"Huh? No, no I mean the tournament."

"Oh! Yeah, I guess we should maybe, maybe… hmm."

"Hmm? What hmm?"

"I just had an idea."

"Uh oh. It's not like the one with the bamboo poles and the paint buckets is it?"

"I still say that would have worked if not for the wind."

"Uh huh. So, what's your idea then."

So, he told him.

"You think she'll go for it?"

"Only one way to find out."

With a simultaneous nod the two rivals made to stand. Failing that.

"There's really no rush is there?"

"Nah, we'll ask her tomorrow. Tomorrow's good."


	15. The Bestest Bunny

The Bestest bunny

…

There have been many important debates in history, arguments of philosophy, morality, the very nature of the universe. This battle was not begun by such an argument.

"I'm telling you, you're out of your cotton pickin mind, everyone knows I'm the cutest."

See what I mean.

"My fluffy tail you are. Everybody knows I'm the cutest. Just ask."

"I did. They said you weren't."

"Why you!"

*Buneary used growl*

*Bunnelby used growl*

Given the nature of the combatants, neither attack was very effective.

"You're just jealous, that's all," declared Buneary with a superior smirk.

"Jealous of your powers of self-delusion maybe," Bunnelby shot back, earning him the most adorable scowl.

"Just you wait," she cried. "When I evolve, I'll be the cutest thing ever!"

"Oh, I can't wait," Bunnelby snarked.

Coincidentally, neither could the author.

"Have some candy!" dirty old man, right on cue.

*nom nom nom nom*

*Evolution*

"Hoowa! Yeah! Evolu… aw crap," declared Diggersby, "Huh. Not quite what I was hoping for."

The once cute bunny Pokémon was now a big butch bunny Pokémon.

"A five o' clock shadow even," he griped, scratching his chin with one big muscular ear. "Ey! What's the deal? Why didn't you evolve?"

Poor bloated Buneary could hardly answer, so full of rare candy, "I guess, hic, this isn't… how I evolve, urp!"

Just then, Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship appeared, "By the power of friendship!" she declared, then blasted Buneary like a sitting Ducklett.

Engulfed in the magical laser blast… I mean 'Power of Friendship', Buneary was transformed in a way no rare candy could ever hope to.

"Woah!" said Diggersby.

"Hubba, Hubba," agreed the dirty old man.

"Haha, the power of friendship strikes again," the popular princess proclaimed.

"Friendship huh? Is that what it does?" said the dirty old man.

Not liking his implication, the one horned flying purple Ponyta chased the filthy vagrant with exceptionally deep pockets out of the fic.

Diggersby briefly watched them exit stage left before returning his attention to the other rabbit, "What a weird day."

Lopunny hardly noticed, too busy examining her evolved form, that is, until she noticed him watching, "So, am I the cutest?"

Diggersby took his time considering the question. Enough time for her to change poses twice. Cute? Hmm. "Cute is probably not the word I would use."

Diggersby used Leer. It was super effective at making Lopunny uncomfortable.

"You… you Piloswine!"

Lopunny used Frustration. Someone's a 'little' upset.

Diggersby was knocked down by the attack but came back swinging, "Oh yeah! Take this."

Diggersby used Double Slap. You brute.

The butch bunny stood poised over Lopunny, ear raised to strike again. The tearful look she turned up at him stole all his strength away.

Lopunny used Baby Doll Eyes. Don't look you fool.

"How, sniffle, how could you?" she cried.

"I, I uh, wha… you, I," he babbled, lowering his defense.

"Gotcha!"

Lopunny used Pound.

Lashing out with her own powerful ears, the female rabbit knocked the butch bunny back, following up her attack with a Dizzy Punch that had him seeing the dancing Pidgey's. He staggered around in confusion before a Jump Kick put him on his back. On the plus side, it did clear his head.

"Ha! Serves you right," she crowed.

"Spose it does," he grumbled to himself.

Falling for some Fake Tears and a pair of big eyes. Shameful.

"What's the matter? Giving up already?" she taunted.

Diggersby scowled, "Nope" grabbing a handful of wet earth he flung it in her unsuspecting face.

Diggersby used Mud Slap.

"Oh! Mud! Are you kidding me?" she shrieked as she fought to see through the squishy veil.

"Perfectly legal move," he said, "just like this one."

Hurling himself forward, the Takedown attack knocked her off her feet, but she was back up before he knew it and dashing at him with a vicious Quick Attack.

"You're a big dumb brute, do you know that!" she yelled as she assaulted his defenses.

"Well now you're just being mean," he said, tanking her attacks before replying with a quick Double Kick.

The first missed but the second connected lightly and forced her back to line up for another charge. Diggersby had no interest in prolonging the fight and rather than give her the space she wanted he followed her retreat and finished her with a firm Hammer Arm to the bunny brain box.

There was a brief pause as the shockwave ran the height of her frame. Then, crossing her eyes, Lopunny did her limp spaghetti noodle impression.

"I win."

His excitement at winning was tempered by consideration for what he should do next.

…

Lopunny woke to a strange sense of motion. When her brain finally stopped loading, she discovered she was hanging over a shoulder being carried.

"Where am I? Where are we going?"

"Back to my cave."

The words processed slowly at first, then a few things fell into place and she realized what was about to happen. Weakly she resisted, squirming to escape but it was no good. He had a firm hold of her with his big strong ears. Mm, so strong.

Unable to escape she resorted to pouting and complaining, "Can't even buy a girl dinner first?"

"You can make dinner after."

"Awwww! Why did I have to be the sexy bunny?"


	16. Tournament Arc - Battle begins

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 01 – Battle begins

…

The day had finally arrived. Fighters had been honing their skills all year in anticipation. It was tournament time.

They came from both far and wide, fighters of every kind and every type, so long as one of those types was Fighting, eager to test their mettle, not metal, that's a different type. The tournament was held in an old temple high in the mountains. The stairs stretched on for what seemed like forever. This was the first challenge, a way to weed out the unworthy before the bones started breaking.

For Blaziken and his son Combusken such challenges were a walk in the park. They'd been tackling similar things since the little Torchic had evolved. Combusken wasn't there to fight though, simply watch. As such he could have taken the alternate audience route, but he didn't. His father was watching.

Tired and panting he ascended the last step where his father stood waiting, a proud smile across his hawkish face.

Worth it.

"Well done," the elder said, "your training is beginning to bear fruit."

"You really think so?" the younger asked excitedly.

The elder nodded, "In another year or two it will be your time to match fists against these."

Combusken stared at the assembled warriors in awe. He'd never seen such a large and diverse group of fighters. His body vibrated with excitement.

"Well look who it is!"

Blaziken turned and intercepted a punch before the words even registered in Combusken's ears. The shock of impact knocked the younger on his butt as the elder matched his strength against a fighter with a long tail and a mushroom cap hat.

"Breloom," said the elder.

"Blaziken," the attacker smirked.

Combusken stared at his father and the strange mon, the tension between them a near palpable thing. A thing that disappeared when the two of them started laughing.

"It is good to see you my friend," said the elder.

"Wasn't sure you'd be here," said the shroom, "heard you became a family man."

The elder nodded, "Indeed so. This is my son."

It was only then Breloom noticed the awestruck youngster staring at them.

"Ey kid."

"Wow. You were so fast!" he exclaimed.

Breloom chuckled at his exuberance, "Fastest fighter here I'd bet."

"I don't know about that."

Breloom smirked at the taller fighter, "Whatever you say chicken legs."

There was no malice in the comment and the elder just chuckled.

"Hey, you see all those quitters on your way up here?" Breloom asked, "I counted a hundred and twenty-seven myself."

"Ambition, unlike skill, is never in short supply" said Blaziken.

"Speaking from experience?" Vaulting over the trio a simian fighter landed with a dramatic flurry of jumps and flips.

"Infernape," Blaziken addressed the interloper with something like a groan.

"Aw great, what banana tree did you fall out of?" snarked Breloom.

"Keep talking like that I'll think you aren't glad to see me," quipped the monkey mon.

"Oooooooh, wouldn't want that."

Very maturely Infernape blew the mushroom fighter a raspberry before ignoring him in favor of a bigger targets, "Wasn't expecting to see you Blazy. I thought you got old and retired."

Refusing to be baited, "You're the same age as me," he pointed out.

"Not true, not true" the monkey cried, "two days it is. Two days I am the younger, old man." The simian fighter's taunting, while effective against a hot head like Breloom, was water off a Ducklett's back to Blaziken, "As you say, boy."

Infernape scowled, "Gonna pay for that one chicken legs. See you in the ring." And with that he bounded away.

"I really don't like that guy," said Breloom.

"You know him dad?"

Blaziken nodded, "Old rival," he said, "sort of like you and Mankey back home."

"Oooooh!" That made sense, "You'll kick his butt, right dad?"

The elder chuckled, "That's the plan."

A sudden explosion of sound shook the courtyard, and all eyes turned to the temple proper. From within, two fighters emerged. In their crisp white gi, Sawk and Throh were the apprentices of the grandmaster, Gallade.

The two gi wearing fighters halted at the edge of the dais, and before anyone could blink, grandmaster Gallade appeared.

"Looks like we're getting started," said Breloom.

Blaziken nodded them turned to his son, "Go find your mother. I will see you tonight."

"Good luck dad!" The elder smiled as his son scampered off into the crowd.

"Nice kid you got there Blaziken."

"He makes me proud," the father replied.

"Well, better not let him down."

Blaziken laughed. He wouldn't.


	17. TA - Thinning the herd

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 02 – Thinning the herd

…

"For the honor, the glory, of combat."

A sporadic round of applause followed the grandmaster's opening remarks. Throughout the hour-long speech, no less than twelve prospective fighters had fallen asleep and subsequently been thrown out.

A true martial artist must endure all things, even boredom.

"I swear, that speech gets longer every year," complained Breloom as those remaining proceeded to the registration desk.

"He was certainly more, verbose, than the last time I stood through that," agreed Blaziken.

"Kinda hoped you-know-who woulda got kicked out."

"Voldemort?"

"Wrong universe."

"You mean Infernape?"

"Shh! Don't say the name!" Breloom hissed.

Blaziken chuckled, "He does possess some self-discipline."

"Probably stole it from somebody else."

Registration, or as it was affectionately called, the test of papers, was the final challenge before the actual fighting began. This was where the most hopefuls were crushed. Every form had to be filled out perfectly, and in triplicate.

After the test of mental fortitude that was the grandmasters welcome speech, patience was at a premium. It wasn't two minutes before the first was thrown out and the number only grew as time went on.

"Uuugggggggggh!"

Blaziken smiled serenely at his friend as they walked away from the desk, though he was chortling on the inside.

"How are you so good at this?" Breloom complained.

"You'd be surprised how much paperwork comes with being a parent."

By the time registration was complete and the first matches had been drawn up even the most mellow of fighters were looking for ways to relieve the tension. Some had chosen to meditate, and it was for those that the gong was rung.

"Finally!"

While not expressing it outwardly, Blaziken was fully in agreement.

Giving a quick look at the board he found his first match and made his way to ring four. His opponent Medicham, even more excitable than Breloom, was already there shadowboxing and making every kind of noise.

"Whooooowaaaaa…"

Blaziken calmly stretched as they waited for their referee.

A Tyrogue in a black and white hat stepped into the ring and both fighters came to attention. They bowed to the referee, then to each other, "Fighters ready?" said Tyrogue, "Begin!"

His opponent opened with a power move, rushing in while charging a Mega punch. Blaziken knew that move too. As techniques went it was very basic.

Blaziken waited till the punch was thrown then brushed it aside and took hold of his opponent. Using Medicham's own momentum Blaziken hurled him back across the ring. Picking himself up he began bouncing on his toes again.

Blaziken made no move to attack, waiting for his clearly impatient foe to come to him. Medicham did not disappoint, flying at him with a flurry of kicks then trying to catch him with a Thunder punch. Blaziken blocked the kicks and tanked the punch, just to test his opponent's strength.

His attack having proved ineffective Medicham attempted a Close combat, raining blow after blow to little effect. Blaziken blocked every strike until he decided he'd seen enough and captured Medicham's hands.

Medicham struggled in the powerful grip. Unable to escape he tried using his legs but was easily countered. Frantic, he desperately fought to be free and stumbled back when Blaziken released him. Completely off balance he had no way to defend against the powerful Blaze kick that sent him arcing across the ring yet again.

This time when he landed he was not so quick to rise. He struggled to sit up, barely half way there when a three toed foot slammed down on his chest.

"Don't get up," Blaziken ordered kindly.

His lack of strength and host of aches left him in no position to disobey.

"Medicham is unable to battle," announced Tyrogue. "Blaziken is the winner!"

Calmly, Blaziken removed his foot, bowed to his opponent and strode from the ring, "That's one," he said to himself, "next."


	18. TA - Elemental disadvantage

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 03 – Elemental Disadvantage

…

Match followed match as the day wore on and the numbers continued to whittle away. Blaziken, after defeating Medicham had powered through an exceptionally talented Machop, a spunky Tyrogue, and an incredibly annoying Hitmontop. Mienfoo, his latest adversary, had just left himself wide open and was about to pay for it.

His eyes bugged comically as the Low kick swept his feet out and a ferocious Fire punch drove him into the ground.

"Mienfoo has the eye swirls. Blaziken is the winner," announced the referee.

With a bow to his unconscious opponent Blaziken strode from the ring. His muscles were beginning to tire, but his iron will would not allow it to show. Others did not possess such fortitude and openly displayed their exhaustion, while others simply drew from a bottomless well of energy.

"What's up chicken butt?"

For example.

"Infernape. Still in I see."

"You kiddin me, none a these schlubs are even worth my time," the simian crowed.

"Be careful you don't let your own ego defeat you."

"Oh of course, thank you master. Oh please, rain down your wisdom upon this poor unworthy one." It was just like him to be so dramatic and Blaziken knew better than to feed into it.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," he said.

Infernape stared at the taller fighter then slumped and sighed, "One a these days chicken legs. One a these days." Blaziken said nothing, nodding his head and walking away.

Sometimes all it took to win was to do nothing.

It wasn't long after his exchange with his old rival that the next match-ups were announced. He grimaced when he saw his next opponent was a Poliwrath. That would automatically put him at a disadvantage, elementally speaking. This hadn't been an issue in his previous bouts and his skill had been overwhelmingly superior.

When he walked into the ring his concern only grew. The Poliwrath was thick, built like a wall and its skin glistened in the late afternoon sun. A tank fighter if its appearance was any indication. He'd soak up damage and let his opponent wear themselves out before finishing them off.

This was the worst kind of matchup for Blaziken, a naturally fast and aggressive fighter. He liked to finish a battle quickly.

This battle will be a test, he thought.

"Fighters ready? Begin!"

Rather than shoot forward and attack as he would have preferred, Blaziken danced around his meaty opponent, watching him. His hands were up defensively, shoulders hunched, movements minimal, reserved. He kept Blaziken always in sight but made no move to approach or attack.

Tank, just like he'd thought.

There was nothing for it. He couldn't hope to out wait such an opponent and hoping he'd miraculously leave an opening was a pipedream. He'd just have to make his own.

Rushing in he opened with a barrage of swift kicks to feel out the bulky frog's defense. It was solid, discouragingly so. None of the kicks seemed to faze him in the least and his focus remained squarely on Blaziken.

Deciding to shift from speed to power he dropped an axe style Blaze kick strait down on the Poliwrath's head. Its arms moved up to block and the full force of the attack was absorbed with negligible damage.

Blaziken backflipped out of the compromising position and observed his opponent. He may as well have been carved from stone, giving away nothing. It was both discouraging and exhilarating all at the same time. Blaziken had walked through his opponents all day. Finally a challenge, something to overcome.

His excitement got the better of him and he rushed back in with a powerful Mega punch aimed square at the center of his opponent.

Rather than simply take the hit, Poliwrath moved so it would strike him in the shoulder. Feeling his attack connect then slide off the oily skin was disconcerting. The punch that emptied the air from his lungs gave him something else to think about.

Two more solid hits followed before he was able to escape. The Poliwrath held his position rather than go after him, hunkering back down to wait.

Blaziken struggled to remain upright as he gasped for breath. He couldn't hope to take another hit like that and remain conscious. He needed to open him up. Put him off balance. Use his superior speed and agility to get around his opponent's bulky defense.

Breath caught, he rushed in again, peppering the Poliwrath with kicks. As expected the boxy frog just stood there and took it. Blaziken saw this and blasted him with a burning side kick. Poliwrath took the kick, grabbing his leg and pulling him in for some more punishment.

In a devastating display of acrobatics, Blaziken flipped over the oncoming fist, followed by the rest of Poliwrath. A swift kick to the back of the head on his way over sent Poliwrath stumbling.

He was still bringing his hands up as he turned when he caught a ferocious Fire punch along the side of his head. The attack rang his bell and the bulky frog staggered. His guard was up for the next one and he let the punch slide off before heaving in with a vicious counter.

The attack missed when Blaziken went into a tumbling roll then came back with a quick series of Low kick's that kept him from planting his feet and regaining his balance.

One well timed kick had his arms windmilling and Blaziken grabbed at the opening with both feet, planting a flaming mule kick right in his tummy swirl.

The attack knocked the wind out of the tanky water fighter but Blaziken didn't stop there. The next attack came in a blur too fast for Poliwrath to see though somewhere beyond the pain he had the sense he was no longer on the ground.

The audience observed what Poliwrath was only just barely cognizant of. Blaziken, raising him into the air with a series of flaming kicks too fast for the eye to track before letting him drop.

The bulky frog blacked out well before his body hit the ground, "Poliwrath is unable to battle. Blaziken is the winner!"

The crowd cheered and Blaziken fell to his knees, exhausted, "A worthy opponent," he mumbled, massaging his tender ribs, "no more for today I think."


	19. TA - Heracrossed

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 04 – Heracrossed

…

Blaziken staggered from the ring, suppressing the strongest urge to shamble over to the wall and just collapse, dignity be damned. Instead he took a deep breath, ribs protesting with a visible wince, then looked around to see who else was still fighting.

He'd been part of A block which had one match still in progress. He didn't recognize either competitor, so he meandered toward B block where Breloom had been sorted. He found his energetic friend squaring off with a Heracross. A unique sort of fighter and with the type advantage against his friend.

Blaziken halted at the edge of the crowd, eyes fixed intently.

The referee had already started the match, and Breloom was bouncing like an over caffeinated Caterpie. Contrary to his opponent who could have been carved from stone, moving nothing but his eyes, following his opponent dispassionately.

"Aw, what's a matter bug boy? Am I too fast for ya," Breloom taunted, shadowboxing as he darted back and forth.

Heracross was unmoved by the taunt. "You sure do talk a lot," he said.

"Sure do," Breloom fired back, "but I didn't come here to chat."

Like a shot he was off, jetting past Heracross like a bullet. The bug fighter visibly braced, and a harsh crack echoed across the ring. "How'd ya like that?"

The Heracross dusted off the assaulted shoulder, "I hope that isn't it."

Blaziken shook his head when his friend scowled. He was good when dishing out the trash talk, but he took it about as well as a pouty child. Probably why Infernape got under his skin so much.

Taking the bait with gusto, Breloom charged in again, lashing the stationary Heracross several times as he blitzed by. The Heracross took it in stride, much to Breloom's growing frustration. Sacrificing speed for power, his next pass was a Mega punch, charging straight at his enemy.

With startling speed, the bug fighter covered the distance between them and preempted Breloom's attack with his own Mega punch, a vicious counter which sent him crashing to the ground.

Breloom bounced once before regaining his feet just in time to take a vicious blow from the Heracross mighty horn. Attacks came rapid fire and unable to reach past the long extension of carapace Breloom was forced to backpedal. The Heracross followed with dogged persistence, forcing the mushroom kangaroo every which way and preventing him from stealing back the initiative.

"Someone needs more training," Blaziken mused, seeing his friend was in trouble. Breloom was an aggressive forward fighter like him. Weak on the defense, they'd trained extensively to avoid being put there. Though apparently not enough.

Backward rushing, the grass fighter staggered, tripping on an invisible dust bunny that snuck into the ring and found itself under his foot. The bug capitalized, a powerful Horn attack taking him to the ground.

Heracross followed up with a kick a mon while he's down Low kick and would have gone back for a second if Breloom hadn't lashed out with his tail forcing the bug to block and giving him time to regain his feet.

"Not bad," acknowledged Heracross. "So you're not all talk, just mostly."

He hadn't the wind to growl properly so his reaction to the taunt was not as overt this time. Blaziken could tell though, "Control it, don't let it control you," he muttered.

Waiting for the agitated Breloom to come to him, Heracross hunkered down, maintaining his position. He didn't have to wait long. The grass fighter came in hard, jabbing and punching. Heracross took the hits and used the proximity to counter with his horn. Breloom bobbed and weaved around the impaling appendage, never slacking in his assault.

Several such clashes yielded nothing. His feet back under him Breloom was too quick for Heracross to hit but Heracross was too solid to damage with the weak attacks Breloom managed to get in while dodging. They were at a stalemate and both knew in a protracted battle Heracross was most likely to win.

And so Heracross waited, patient as stone. He could afford to after all, "Getting tired?"

Breloom was, but he refused to acknowledge it. "Get squashed bug," he growled.

He came at the other fighter like he had before and again Heracross prepared to meet him, but at the last second, he became a blur that flashed past the bug fighter, knocking him hard to one side.

"Mach punch," said Blaziken with a grin.

The super speedy attack combined both power and speed. It was Breloom's best move and he knew its weaknesses. Excessive repetition would quickly tire the user and increase risk of injury with each successive hit. It wasn't an opener, it was a finisher

With Heracross still staggering Breloom hit him again, then again, stunning the bug fighter and allowing Breloom enough time to set up for his big climax. One powerful lash of his tail put Heracross in the air and Breloom followed executing a devastating Jump kick which put the other fighter out cold.

"Heracross is unable to battle. Breloom is the winner!"


	20. TA - The calm before

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 05 – The calm before

…

The night air was brisk and cool. Torches flickered cheerfully, illuminating the courtyard where long tables sat covered with a cornucopia of delicious food.

The first day of fighting had come to an end, and in the pleasant chill of evening it was time to feast. "Woohoo, party!" Breloom, the perpetual bachelor, was well on his way to being thoroughly sloshed. Blaziken sighed for his friend's dignity. He would feel properly embarrassed for him later.

"You were great today dad!"

Yes, later, when his family wasn't present to see him play bait the drunken mushroom, "You think so?"

Combusken nodded vehemently, "You're the best."

Blaziken smile indulgently. It was good his son believed in him but claiming he was the best seemed premature. Also antagonistic to sensitive ears.

"We'll just see about that." Like the ones on a certain monkey.

"My dad is the best," Combusken declared fearlessly.

Infernape made a sour face at the youths boasting, "Your old man's about a hundred years late if he wants to beat me."

"Again with the age thing," he mumbled under his breath while his son scowled at the half-drunk simian.

"My dads gonna kick your butt."

"Son. That is enough."

The young fighter stared at his father, "But dad…"

A single hand halted him midsentence, "That is enough."

Despondently, the youngster sat back down.

"Yeah, listen to your old mah…"

His sneering taunt died midsentence when a well-articulated tail turned his head. The tail was attached to an attractive female Infernape who strategically sashayed past, empty tray in hand.

Infernape stared and the female turned her head just enough to give him a Cheshire smile and one come hither eye. Everyone watching was embarrassed for him when the, not nearly drunk enough to be acting like this, fool recklessly leapt at the attractive female.

*CLANG*

A few even had enough sympathy to flinch when he ran headlong into the metal tray.

The female, acting like nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, sauntered off, leaving a half concussed Infernape staring after her swaying hips with hearts in his eyes.

"I think I'm in love," Infernape groaned with the hearts in his eyes.

"Love looks painful," Combusken whispered.

"Usually," his father replied, casting a meaningful look over his son's head at his wife.

"Are you ever going to let me live that down?" she asked.

Her husband leaned over to nuzzle beaks, "Nope."

"Papa," squeaked the Torchic in her arms, "beaky's!"

With a laugh the father acquiesced to his youngest child's demands and all at the table laughed, any unpleasantness forgotten.

When the feasting was done and his family had retired, Blaziken found himself standing before the temple statue of the sacred one. He couldn't deny the skill of the artist, but his interpretation was, unique, "How drunk do you suppose the guy who made this was?"

Blaziken glanced at his rival before returning his attention to the statue, "Given the size and how long it must have taken to carve, very."

"Yeah, very sounds about right."

The silence that followed grew uncomfortable quickly but Infernape seemed hesitant to fill it.

"Sorry, for snappin at your kid earlier," he said.

Blaziken shrugged, "It was as much his fault for bragging."

"He really looks up to you, doesn't he?"

Blaziken smiled, "Yes. He makes me very proud. The least I can do is give him something worth looking up to."

"Yeah, yeah I spose so," the monkey mon hedged.

"Perhaps you have one of your own someday," Blaziken offered. "You know, once you've worked on your approach a bit."

Infernape replied to this comment with a sarcastic smirk, "She totally wants me."

"I think the tray may be a barrier."

Infernape just waved the remark off, "That's just foreplay," he said. "Don't tell me your old lady never smacked you with something harder than your head."

"I would if I could."

Infernape laughed openly at this, "Damn it I missed this. Hasn't been the same since you ran off to play house. The shroom riles too easy."

"And drinks too much," added Blaziken.

Infernape snickered but then grew serious, "You better not lose chicken legs. Not till we get a chance to fight. Its been way too long since we busted each other's knuckles."

"It has at that," Blaziken agreed. "Looks to be a full day tomorrow."

"That Pangoro with all the kids looks like he'll be trouble. The Hariyama too come to think of it. Like punching a wall that punches back."

Blaziken nodded, "The Lee and the Chan should make for a challenge as well."

"Meh, nothin I can't handle."

Blaziken grinned at the bravado, "Of course."

Infernape scowled, "One a these days chicken legs."

"Tomorrow perhaps," he said, turning to leave.

"Don't lose Blaziken. I won't be able to forgive you if you do."

Blaziken just nodded as he walked away. He wouldn't lose. His stoic nature prevented him from showing it, but the prospect of another bout with his old rival filled him with an electric excitement.

He wouldn't lose. At least not until he'd smashed that smug monkey face with his best Fire punch.


	21. TA - Poison touch

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 06 – Poison Touch

…

The sun rose over the temple into a cloudless blue sky. Excitement buzzed through the air like a horde of Beedrill. The anticipation of the previous day had only grown. No more pussyfooting around. It was time for the real fighting to begin.

The semifinals would run through the morning, bringing the numbers down to the final eight. After that, it was a mad dash to the end. Last man standing wins.

"Oh, my head."

Some would have a harder time with this than others.

"You drank too much."

"Wha, no, no it was only a couple."

Blaziken shook his head at his friend's rationalization, "When will you learn?"

"Learn what? Oh, my head."

What indeed.

"First bout, Blaziken versus Toxicroak. Fighters to the ring!"

"Looks like you're up," groaned Breloom.

"Perhaps you might take this chance to meditate, fix that headache."

"What head… oh, my head."

Blaziken snickered and shook his own head. He was consistent at least. You couldn't say he wasn't that.

Leaving his friend to ponder on the source of his cranial trauma, Blaziken stepped up to the stage. His opponent, Toxicroak, was already there, waiting. The two eyed each other from across the ring. Blaziken had seen fighters like this before, poison users. They were especially dangerous. Even a light jab could determine the outcome of a fight.

He had little experience fighting them, though he would readily admit it was better he fight this poison toad than Breloom. Even without the hangover the type disadvantage combined with this fighter's apparent skill might well have proved more than his friend could handle.

Time to see if he'd do any better.

"Fighters ready? Begin!"

Legs wreathed in flames, Blaziken descended on his opponent. Toxicroak retreated with haste in the wake of this flaming assault, dancing acrobatically around the stage.

It was taxing to keep the flames lit across both legs, but it was important he not let the poison toad touch him. For all the energy he was expending to remain ablaze, he would expend even more if he were to be poisoned.

Pursuing Toxicroak around the ring he proved extremely agile, staying just ahead of Blaziken and his flaming chicken legs. Changing up his strategy, Blaziken charged a Fire punch and slammed it into the ground.

The wave of fire was unavoidable and Toxicroak was knocked back by the force of the attack. He recovered quickly and rushed Blaziken with his toxic hands.

Unable to renew his own assault first it was now Blaziken's turn to play duck, duck, Farfetch'd. There was only one problem. His first step back almost impaled his foot on a glistening spike. There were a lot of glistening spikes and they were all around him.

The glistening he rightly suspected was poison. Poison spikes. Toxicroak must have been discreetly spreading them while bounding around the ring. The moment of hesitation cost him, and a Poison jab slid across his leg as he pivoted to dodge. Toxicroak didn't let up and pressed his attack with a series of lightning fast jabs.

Forced to watch his footing as well as his opponent, Blaziken darted around the shrunken ring, ignoring the growing tingle in his leg as he fought to avoid picking up anymore.

Following Blaziken's example, Toxicroak changed up his own strategy. Picking up speed, poison strikes became mixed with non-poisonous attacks. Assailed from a greater number of angles it was harder to simply dodge, he had to block.

Most of the attacks could be blocked, but doing so would allow his crafty opponent to feint in a Poison jab. It was a good tactic and given the urgency of his assault, Blaziken had little choice but to be drawn in and engage the toxic toad on his terms.

He blocked strike after strike, coming in much closer than he liked. Watching for the dreaded poison appendage to lash out, quickly avoiding each time it did. His absolute focus on his enemy caused him to forget about his surroundings. Right up until he stepped on the first spike.

He bit back on epithet which caused him to miss the next attack. The pain of the blow was nothing compared to the feel of the poison seeping in.

In a fit of anger, he exploded in flame. Hastily retreating, Toxicroak stood off, ready but waiting. He could afford to wait now. His poison was in. The fight was his if he could just run out the clock, so to speak.

Blaziken was painfully aware of this, feeling the burn of the poison in his foot and his gut. He had to end it, before the poison could end him.

Pushing the pain to the back of his mind, he surged forward like a flaming comet. Toxicroak evaded his attack and acrobatically bounced away from the follow up. The game was obvious now. Toxicroak no longer had to hit him. He just had to avoid getting hit till his poison did its job. His great agility made this possible, but Blaziken was not without his own tricks.

Plucking a trio of the poison spikes in a flaming hand he hurled them at the hopping fighter. Unprepared for such an attack he dodged one but took the other two straight on. Blaziken repeated this two more times then, with a flaming Low kick, sent an entire barrage of burning spikes shooting at the poison user.

Unable to dodge such a broad attack he covered himself defensively. The move protected his face, but blinded him to his enemy. The fight ended quickly, a half dozen burning kicks and Toxicroak fell to the ground unconscious.

"Toxicroak is unable to battle. Blaziken is the winner!"

He barely heard the referee declare his victory. His ears were ringing, and it took all his will to hold up the massive lead weights that were his arms while his whole body burned.

He needed to rest. Just for a few minutes. Yes, a few minutes wouldn't hurt.

"Gotcha buddy," said Breloom who appeared out of nowhere so Blaziken could pitch forward onto him.


	22. TA - Battle rages

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 07 – Battle Rages

…

The sounds of battle echoed from every direction. He knew that was wrong but the pounding in his head made it difficult to remember.

Damned poison user. The worst part was never the fight itself.

As Breloom battled Hawlucha all over his aching skull, Blaziken did his best to meditate and cycle the poison out of his system. It was an advanced technique, one he'd never fully mastered.

He absently registered the hard thud of an unconscious body hitting the ground. A short time later the noise started up again but with a different timbre. The next fight had begun but he continued to meditate. Useless to study his opponents if he passed out on his way to the ring. He would gain more in the coming bouts being free of the poison.

One by one matches started and ended. The longer he meditated the less aware he was of each successive bout but the more aware he was of something else. It glowed and pulsed erratically yet there was a warmth and calm at its core. The longer he examined it the more the erratic pulsing smoothed into something like a constant predictable rhythm.

Blaziken felt he was beginning to understand this, inner glow, when something drew him out of his meditative state. He blinked several times then looked up into he familiar visage of his friend.

"Blaziken, you're up," said Breloom.

It took a moment for the words to sink in. When they did, he rose and walked slowly to the ring.

He felt strangely light and yet heavy at the same time. He was absurdly aware of his body and every movement, almost as though he were detached and watching it from the outside.

And yet, despite this strange state of being he felt entirely unconcerned, detached, even when he stepped into the ring with his next opponent there was nothing at all like fear or anxiety.

Though, given how scrappy it looked that may not have been so abnormal.

Scrafty to be perfectly precise. With his mohawk like ridges and the baggy skin on his legs, he looked like nothing so much as a common street thug.

"Hey man, you look like shit!" And that was apparently not a misconception. Blaziken, in his abnormal mental state, didn't know what to think of the statement and just tilted his head slightly.

"Oh, what, you too good to talk to me? I see how it is. Can't be getting no respect from big bad Blaziken eh? Nah, not for Scrafty."

"You seem very angry," Blaziken observed neutrally.

"Angry! Oh, boy! You ain't even seen angry. I gonna show you angry. Just you watch!"

"Fighters ready? Begin!"

Rather than charge to attack or adopt a defensive stance, Scrafty began performing some sort of dance. Or at least that's what Blaziken thought it was. He couldn't think of anything else to call the odd choreographed movements.

"Oh, you like that? Yeah, what'choo gonna do huh? Whatcha gonna do?"

He stood, he stared, but he made no move to interact with the odd mouthy fighter. He wasn't sure why, but he felt on some level that to engage him would be a mistake, so he did nothing.

Patience, that was the key. Wait. Let it happen.

It was so counterintuitive to his usual style he couldn't help but follow its imperative, if only out of curiosity.

"You just gonna stand there? What! My moves too much for ya? Yeah, that's right, Scrafty's too much for ya."

Blaziken barely heard the taunt. He was no longer operating on a purely physical level. His body tingled like he was covered in Pikachu. He could feel, something, energy? It moved in waves, pushed against the core within him, slid around the dancing Scrafty.

He didn't understand it. He didn't even know what it was, but he felt it was important. Though he wished it had chosen a different time to manifest. He was supposed to be fighting, wasn't he?

"What'choo got man, huh. What'choo got? You got nothin, that's what you got. Scrafty's got it. Oh! That's right. It's all Scrafty!"

Entirely deaf to the taunting, Blaziken was aware when the waves of energy changed. He felt him coming before he had physically initiated the charge. The strange whirl that was Scrafty descended on him and he made the slightest side step to avoid the first attack.

Scrafty spewed trash from his face hole like Trubbish but Blaziken was oblivious to all of it. He stepped, hopped and bent around attack after attack. The waves of energy moved far enough ahead of his opponent he could easily avoid the constant barrage of attacks. The longer he did this the more he felt something building.

It felt ferocious, savage. It frightened him. Whatever it was he could not hope to control it. If he allowed things to continue, he had no idea what might happen.

Focusing on the waves of energy consciously, he anticipated the next attack that would put Scrafty in the proper position. He bent, dodged, then stopped and caught Scrafty by the foot.

Scrafty halted entirely as though caught in a vice, while the energy between them became tense and still, like a rubber band pulled to the edge of its range, "What… what the hell!"

The tension trembled, threatening to snap. Blaziken felt the power collect in his open hand, felt it harden in his fist, felt it burn when he smashed Scrafty with the Fire punch.

The tension broke when Scrafty came to a halt on the other side of the ring. Faint ripples trembled as he tried to get up. They died away like a barely flickering torch when his strength failed, and unconsciousness took him.

"Scrafty is unable to battle. Blaziken is the winner!"

The declaration drew him back to the physical world, but he departed the ring still feeling the echoes of the fight run through his limbs.

What was that?

Whatever it was, he had to figure it out quickly, before a better fighter took advantage of his distraction and did to him what he'd just done to the trash talking Scrafty.


	23. TA - Fists of steel

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 08 – Fists of Steel

…

Fire, he was on fire. Not literally of course, and even if he was it would hardly be cause for concern. The fire that enveloped him burned from within. It didn't hurt, as one might assume. Fire was simply the best word he could find to describe the sensation.

After defeating Scrafty, Breloom had been the first to comment on his overwhelming victory. He'd said nothing in reply. What could he say?

He didn't understand what had happened or how he'd done what he'd done. His mind was still in the strange altered state when he returned to his meditation, trying to get a grip on what had happened.

Sadly, though he could sense it, he had come no closer to understanding it when the last battle ended and they moved to the next tier of the tournament.

He looked to the board and found that once again he would be leading it. His opponent was marked as, Lucario.

Lucario were duel fighting and steel, which gave Blaziken the advantage elementally. But they were also notorious for being rapacious warriors with strange esoteric abilities. That was less encouraging. The last thing he needed was more weirdness to contend with.

Despite this, at his very core he couldn't deny the excitement he felt bubbling up. Infernape was right. He'd missed this as well. The thrill of battle, walking the razors edge between victory and defeat. His body was almost vibrating when they called for him and he stepped again into the ring. Lucario strode calmly to his place opposite Blaziken, his blue vulpine face stoically blank.

"I was watching your last match" he said conversationally.

"That so?"

Lucario nodded, "Most interesting. Yes, I believe this will be, most interesting."

Blaziken didn't understand what he meant being so cryptic. He wondered if it might have something to do with those 'abilities' he'd been concerned about.

"Fighters read? Begin!"

It all happened faster than his body could react. He felt the waves of energy all around him, and when he reached out to sense Lucario, he was submerged. The gentle waves of energy became like a raging sea crashing against him.

He tried to speak but the force of the waves choked the sound out of him. Then, as suddenly as it had begun it ceased. He fell to his knees, panting like he'd just run a ten-day marathon.

"I see, so this is all you are capable of."

Blaziken looked up at Lucario with a burning glare, "Is that all you got?"

It was stupid bravado. This Lucario clearly understood the energy he'd tapped into, that much was obvious. The way he turned it on and off like a switch spoke of a prodigious mastery. His brain understood this, his pride just didn't care.

Lucario smiled, "Very well."

Lucario clasped his hands together and the typhoon returned. This time he was ready for it.

When the waves hit him, he pushed back. Pulsing the power that was his, he disrupted the waves, fought back against the overwhelming pressure. It wasn't enough. The waves came again, stronger. For a moment he bent under the crushing force, then rallied, pushing back even harder.

Once more he felt that fearful power welling up but this time he could not afford to suppress it. Instead he drew it in close and when the waves came again he hurled it at them.

A terrific explosion shook the arena and knocked the unprepared off their feet. Lucario stood at the far side of the ring staring at Blaziken. A phantom image hovering over the fighter, Lucario was struck with a sudden realization.

"Hold!"

The force of the statement drew everyone's attention and for a moment he only stared, clearly considering something, "I forfeit."

The crowd gaped in shock. So did Blaziken.

Lucario strode purposefully across the ring and placed his hand on Blaziken shoulder, "Come with me. There is something I must tell you."

Dazed and confused he followed Lucario out of the ring while the ref's tried to restore order by calling for the next match.

"What do you know of aura's?" Lucario asked, once they'd found a small quiet place to talk.

"Enough to say I've heard of them," said Blaziken. "My master may have mentioned them in passing a time or two."

Lucario nodded as if he'd expected this answer, "Even within fighting circles they are often treated as something like an urban myth. I can assure you, they are not."

"Is that what this is, aura?"

Lucario nodded, "My kind are naturally inclined to awakening our aura, but it is not impossible for others to do so. When did you first begin to sense your core?"

"After that Toxicroak poisoned me," he replied, "I was trying to use the anti-ailment technique and it just happened."

"I am familiar with this technique. Is this the first time you've used it."

"The first time since training with my old teacher. I never mastered the technique. I was never very good at it even."

"It takes exceptional patience to reach the proper meditative state. Likely something you have developed since you completed your training."

"Parenting is the greatest lesson in patience one can ever have."

Lucario smiled, "I wouldn't know," he said. "Now that your aura is awakened you must take care."

"What do you mean?"

"You have yet to truly understand what you are capable of. If you attempt to wield your aura too overtly, without proper control you could hurt yourself, or someone else."

One punch, he remembered. One punch and Scrafty had crumpled like a paper bag.

"I understand," he said.

"There is one other thing, something even I have only heard of."

"Oh?" How interesting.

"Yes, something even greater than aura. Evolution."

"But I am already fully evolved."

"Yes, you are. And this evolution is something only those who are fully evolved may achieve. A greater evolution."

Blaziken walked back to the courtyard in shock. Somehow, he'd unlocked a power few even believed was real, and now a new evolution as well. It was too much. He hadn't felt this overwhelmed since he learned he was going to be a father for the first time.

Lost in his own world, he arrived back at the fighting ring just in time to see the crowd explode in cheers. The Primeape who'd won was posing proudly, soaking in the adulation.

The fighters near the ring parted so the defeated fighter could be carried out.

Blaziken crashed back to the real world when he saw the bruised and battered form of his friend lying on the stretcher.

"Breloom!"

"Blaze," he mumbled through swollen lips, "watch that guy. He's crazy."


	24. TA - Monkey Matchup

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 09 – Monkey Matchup

…

After the last fight of the semi-finals there was a one-hour break and a light repast.

The eight remaining fighters sat around a single table. None spoke as they ate. Even the chatty Infernape was uncharacteristically stoic. In Blaziken's case it had less to do with stoicism and more to do with his mind being preoccupied with more thoughts than he was able to process.

He figured out easily enough what Breloom had meant when he called the Primeape crazy. One short inquiry had cleared that up. Rage. Primeape were famous for their Rage so it should have been obvious. He chalked it up to his lack of focus. Something he'd need to deal with before he set foot in the ring again or it would be the last time he did so.

None of his new aura or fancy evolutions were going to save him from himself.

After lunch the eight fighters returned to the ring and were nearly bowled over by the cheer of the crowd.

"You think they missed us?" quipped Infernape.

"Some of us," said Blaziken.

The monkey fighter blew him a raspberry.

Sawk and Throh entered the ring and a moment later master Gallade appeared.

"Congratulations you eight who have made it this far. The true battle begins now." A raucous cheer rained down from the crowd and the master waited for it to pass, "The first match of the finals, Infernape versus Primeape."

Infernape snickered as the crowd roared, "Well who'd a thunk it. Guess I get to avenge the shroom."

"Be careful, or it'll be me avenging you," said Blaziken.

"Aw, you'd really do that for me?"

"Probably not."

The monkey fighter drooped like a raincloud, "Just you wait chicken legs. Once I'm done with this guy, you're next."

Pouting, he stomped into the ring and came face to face with the ferocious Primeape.

"You ready to dance?" asked Primeape, slamming his fists together.

A devious smile crept across his lips, "For what you did to my friend I will defeat you."

"You mean the mushroom?"

"Breloom!" Infernape snapped. "A more noble fighter you would be hard pressed to find and a better friend, there is none."

He could hear Blaziken groaning behind him which made it harder to keep a straight face.

"Well I hope you fight better than your buddy or this is gonna be over quick."

"My victory is assured for I shall defeat you, with the power of friendship."

The snickers from the crowd were drown out by the shouts of, "Ham! Ham!" from behind him.

He very maturely responded to these accusations by turning back to his rival and sticking out his tongue.

"You are a weird one," said Primeape.

"So, will that make it more or less embarrassing when you lose?"

"Fighters ready?" said Sawk, "Begin!"

Two simian screams and the fighters charged colliding in a flurry of fists and feet. Much was thrown, little connected. Infernape was easily the faster and his light acrobatic style allowed him to attack from a myriad of angles. His attacks had little effect on Primeape however who soaked up the damage and fired off rapid punches at every opportunity.

The other fighters watching were impressed. The sheer vigor on display had feet tapping and muscles twitching in eager anticipation. Meanwhile, Infernape could see he was making no headway with his current tact, so he vaulted into the air and came down with a vicious Stomp.

Primeape blocked and bent under the attack. When Infernape did it again he dodged and rolled out of the way.

Foot planted firmly on the broken ground, Infernape posed dramatically. "Twoooooowa!"

Primeape was having none of it. He screamed and beat his chest furiously.

Rage.

When Primeape charged this time, it was with reckless abandon. He no longer made any attempts to block, taking hit after hit and powering through with a savage scream. Before the incredible fury Infernape was forced to give ground. He bounded around the ring with the raging Primeape right on his tail.

He knew what he had to do to win. The Rage was both a strength and a weakness. All that power behind a blind unthinking fury. Against a smart fighter like him this monkey had no chance. Distracted by his ego stroking he missed a dodge and took a hard right to the jaw. He toppled to the ground putting him at Primeape's mercy, or so it looked.

He rolled past a punch and knocked Primeape's feet out with a Low kick then bounded out of range while Primeape face planted into the floor. Primeape screamed and beat the ground. He looked like a child throwing a tantrum, right up to the point where his fists started cracking the tiles.

"Can't hit me, haha. Come on, free shot," he taunted, shaking his rump for effect.

The taunt worked and in a barely cognizant fury Primeape charged, throwing all his power behind a single fist. Just as planned.

He never even saw the Counter. One second, he was bearing down on the infuriating Infernape, the next, darkness.

Primeape 'stood', head down and feet upward, before gravity remembered what it was supposed to do, and he slumped forward, unconscious.

"The power of friendship triumphs!"

Despite his absurd proclamation the crowd exploded into cheers. Yet somehow over it all he still heard the cry, "HAM!"


	25. TA - Black and white

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 10 – Black and white

…

The crowd cheered as Infernape strutted from the ring. What a ham. He should have been an Emboar.

"That's mine," he crowed. "Your turn Blazy."

"Next match, Blaziken versus, Pangoro!"

Blaziken exchanged a glance with the massive black and white fighter. Casually they stepped into the ring and faced one another.

"That was your son last night, wasn't it?" the massive ursine fighter asked.

"It was," said Blaziken.

Pangoro smiled, "You must be very proud of him."

Blaziken returned the smile, "Most of the time," he said, "though you do have me beat in terms of quantity."

Pangoro laughed at that, "Aye, they're a bunch of rug rats. But they're my rug rats."

"Lot's of fun at that age."

"That they are. Almost old enough to start training."

"Now that will be a truly gratifying experience. Infuriating, but gratifying."

"Quit gabbing and fight already!"

The two fighters threw the speaker a dirty look. Infernape stared back defiantly.

"Is he always like that?"

"Long as I've known him."

"Fighters Ready?"

"Shall we then?" said Pangoro.

"May the best mon win."

"Begin!"

The tiles cracked under his feet as Blaziken surged forward, Pangoro planted his own preparing to receive. Despite his considerable height Blaziken was only as tall as Pangoro, and the black and white fighter was at least three times as wide.

He opened strong with a rising Blaze kick. Pangoro took the hit and moved to grapple.

Blaziken sidestepped and countered with a Fire punch, followed by a Double kick. Pangoro took the hits and kept coming. Continuing to dance around the larger fighter, Blaziken used his legs exceptional reach to stay just out of grabbing range.

Despite his failure to catch the quicker fighter, Pangoro was undeterred. He soaked up the weak hits like they were nothing and the stronger hits barely gave him pause. It made sense. He had fought his way to this point just like Blaziken. There were no weak fighters left, only the strong.

Blaziken fired off a flurry of kicks at various heights and angles attempting to make an opening. Unfortunately, he only managed to open himself when Pangoro divined the pattern to his barrage and used it to slip inside his attack and deliver one of his own.

It was a single open palm heel strike that sent Blaziken tumbling across the ring. He recovered quickly and luckily so. Pangoro wasted no time bringing the attack to him with a meteoric Body slam.

He dodged the attack but was still caught in the shockwave and pushed clear to the edge of the ring. His clawed feet scraped the tile for purchase and he nearly toppled over the edge.

A few precarious moments and he heaved himself forward, still at the edge of the ring but no longer falling off.

Laughter rang from the cloud of dust where Pangoro had landed, "Not bad, not bad," he said jovially, "thought I had you for a second."

"You almost did," Blaziken admitted.

"That'll teach ya to hold back," said Pangoro, emerging from the cloud and absently dusting off his massive arms.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you one-punch that Scrafty. He was mouthy, but he was no weakling. You haven't shown me anything like that since this fight started. I'm a little insulted."

It was true. He had been intentionally trying not to use his aura. He didn't understand it and he hated using techniques he didn't understand.

"Come on Blaziken, kick his butt already! It's a big enough target."

"You're next loudmouth!"

In the brief moment his opponent and his rival were glaring at each other he resolved to his decision. His skills would be enough, he didn't need his uncontrollable aura.

He rushed at Pangoro with a textbook Jump kick. Pangoro had apparently read that book too and intercepted the attack, turned it into a grab and hit him with a powerful Slam that cratered him into the floor.

"So disappointing," said the massive fighter shaking his head. "I expected better."

Grabbing him by the leg he executed a Vital throw that once again had him skidding to the edge of the ring. His head spun as he gripped the edge of the platform. The constant inversion in his perspective caused him to rethink his previous decision.

Digging down through the pain and vertigo he sought the meditative state. He was interrupted when Pangoro grabbed him again and gave him a Seismic Toss. Soaring into the air under someone else's power was never a pleasant experience. He struggled against Pangoro's iron grip, but his opponent proved more durable.

The impact shook him right through his bones. Pangoro released his limp form which flopped to the ground like a rag.

"Give up?" his pride rebelled at the question and his feeble struggles proved to the referee that he was not yet done, despite appearances.

Pangoro shook his head, "Pride goes before the fall, but if you insist."

The massive fighter took a solid stance and cocked back his fist. Blaziken recognized the move, a Dynamic punch.

There'd be no coming back from that. Yet, as he watched Pangoro draw power to his fist, something changed. The world stopped being color and sound and light and everything became waves, waves of energy.

He'd done it. Somewhere on the edge of death he'd found his Zen and tapped into his aura.

He went deep to his core, embracing the power and swiftly felt out his surroundings. The ambient energy moved to the rhythm of Pangoro's fist which glowed with angry violent power. His own energies were twisted by pain and he had no time to properly realign them, so he exerted his will and forced them into something resembling their proper alignment.

He suspected he'd pay for it later but there was no time for that now. Pangoro's fist shown like a star and it was coming his direction.

There was no time to dodge, no time to block. There was only one recourse. He drew his aura into a concentrated ball and smashed it against the attack.

The powers collided and exploded, throwing up a dust cloud that covered the entire ring.

Something went flying from the cloud, landing outside the ring like a meteorite.

The dust cleared and Blaziken stood, wreathed in a halo of energy.

Pangoro looked up from his crater and gave half a grin "Now that's more like it," he said, before promptly passing out.


	26. TA - Heavy hitters

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 11 – Heavy hitters

…

"You okay there Blazy?"

"I feel like I was run over by a truck."

His fight with Pangoro had been a painful reminder of where he was. They'd all fought through the dregs, earned their place in the final eight. If he tried holding back again, then that was it, he might as well throw in the towel before he ever stepped into the ring.

"You gonna live chicken legs?"

Blaziken gave his rival a cocksure grin, "I wouldn't give you the satisfaction."

The monkey mon returned the grin, "Good. It just wouldn't be the same if I didn't get to do it myself."

Blaziken knew what he meant, and as much as he would have liked to give up after the beating he'd just taken, he couldn't. He had too many reasons to keep fighting. His family was watching, and the chance to stand toe to toe with his old rival again.

He'd probably be more excited about that one if there were a part of him that didn't hurt.

"Seriously though, what did you do to that guy. That was some serious distance."

Before Blaziken could try to explain or attempt to make something up there was a thunderous crack. The next fight had begun.

"Damn that was loud!"

And powerful. Hariyama wasn't as tall as Pangoro but he was at least as wide and Machamp was a four-armed mountain of muscle. The crack had come from two of Machamp's fists impacting one of Hariyama's massive palms. It happened again when all four came straight down on the two mighty catcher's mitts.

"Not much finesse from these two," Infernape remarked.

"They hardly need it," said Blaziken.

The sheer power of Machamp's blows cracked the air with every impact and Hariyama took each hit in its massive hands with stoic resolve.

"You think he'll ever start hittin back?"

"If he doesn't, we'll be here all day."

Hariyama did retaliate. When Machamp raised all four arms for another crushing Slam Hariyama countered with a devastating Double slap. Machamp was pushed back by the rapid twin blow but showed no sign that it had hurt.

He rushed back in with a sweeping Low kick and followed up with a swift Double kick. Displaying surprising agility, Hariyama hopped over the Low kick and blocked the Double kick. Being airborne at the time he was pushed back, and he used the space to plant himself firmly again.

"It's like watching a tree wrestle with a boulder."

Blaziken smirked, "I think you're forgetting one of us is going to have to fight that tree or that boulder."

"Ewww."

"Any preference?" Blaziken said with a chuckle.

It was sort of like asking someone how they preferred to die, by hanging or by drowning. Neither option seemed all that much better than the other.

Hariyama pivoted out of the path of another crushing blow, allowing it to shatter the floor. He ignored the shrapnel and returned with a punishing chop that Machamp blocked with his two upper arms.

Still having the superior position, Hariyama followed up with a Cross chop. Machamp blocked but flinched at the effort. Hariyama took advantage and followed his attack with a Headbutt.

Machamp was momentarily stunned, his arms swinging out wildly. By luck he caught Hariyama a glancing blow across the face. It wasn't strong, but it was enough to give him pause which gave Machamp a chance to regain his bearings.

"Think they might just knock each other out?"

"Wishful thinking."

Machamp retook the initiative and came at Hariyama with a rain of powerful punches, his four arms firing like steel pistons. Hariyama took the attacks in stride but slowly began to give ground under the tireless assault. Even the mightiest stone can only endure so much.

Getting flashy, Machamp threw out a Thunder punch, catching Hariyama by surprise. The receiving hand twitched and left him open to a Double kick to the head.

"He's done."

"Perhaps."

Machamp moved to capitalize on his position and was caught completely off guard when Hariyama swept his foot out with a surprise Low kick. The Karate chop that followed knocked him on his back and set the little birdies to chirping around his head.

A massive shadow scared the birdies away and he looked up just in time to see a massive form descending. The Body Slam threw up a cloud of dust in its wake and once it had cleared, only Hariyama remained standing. Breathing heavily, but still standing.

"Machamp is unable to battle. Hariyama is the winner."

"Well, that was something," said Infernape.

"Certainly was."

"Have fun fighting him."

"No, no, I already fought one of those. It's your turn."

Infernape looked at his rival then at the massive wall of flesh, "But, I don't wanna," he whimpered.


	27. TA - Now for an epic

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 12 – Now for an epic… oh.

…

"Next match, Hitmonchan versus, Hitmonlee."

The two fighters shared a look. It had been a hard road, long and winding that brought them to where they were and every step they had walked together. A road that started with two Tyrogue and an age-old argument, fist or feet.

Okay so maybe it was a stupid argument, but the point is, it was this debate and the ensuing quarrels that shaped the fighter each young mon would become.

Fight after fight the question was asked. Sometimes it was fists. Sometimes it was feet. Neither side ever managed to win a truly decisive streak to settle the question. And then it happened, evolution. But rather than quell the pointless fighting the situation only escalated. In their new state's there would be no changing sides, they were fully committed.

And if that wasn't enough to build a rivalry, there was of course, a girl. Sweet little Meditite. Oh, she was a beauty. The cutest little bun shaped head you've ever seen. She'd laughed and teased the young Tyrogue' for their quarreling and they'd only fought all the harder to get her attention. Boys are dumb that way ya know.

Their evolution did nothing to change this. They both still pined for sweet little Meditite.

Then it happened again, evolution. And the girl next door became a centerfold fantasy. Vava voom to put it mildly.

Though for as much that had changed, nothing really did. Fists and feet still fought for the girl who laughed at them and their silly quarrel which made them fight all the harder. Talk about a vicious cycle. Something had to give.

Then, a chance, the tournament. The two rivals approached their crush and put it to her. If one of them became the champion, would she be theirs.

Yes, she decided, she would.

A lifestyle became an obsession till at last, there they stood, ready to give it all.

"Uh, would the fighters please enter the ring?" said Sawk when the two continued to stare at each other.

Without breaking eye contact they marched into the fighting circle. Muscles tensed and bulged as anxious energy was held back by the thinnest leash.

Electricity flashed between Lee and Chan. Violence, sweet and savage, about to be unleashed.

A sarcastic wind blew dust across the ring past the unflinching fighters. Nothing could break their concentration, their pure unwavering focus.

"Fighters ready? Begin!"

*Silence*

*Stillness*

*Not fighting*

"You think they heard him?"

"Doesn't look like it."

"Uh, guys? Guys?"

Sawk was at a loss for what to do. Fortunately, grandmaster Gallade, great and wise master that he was, knew exactly what to do.

*Double slap*

"Now that we have your attention," said the grandmaster, before returning to his seat.

Picking themselves up from where they'd been Bitch slapped… I mean Double slapped into the floor, the two fighters faced off with a more normal level of intensity.

"Fighters ready?" and he waited for their nods to be sure, "Begin!"

The two rivals shot forward and the single thought on everyone's mind was, this is gonna be epic.

… One epic fight later

The audience stared in silent shock. Never had they seen such violence, such brutality… it was awesome. Once their collective brains kicked back in they roared their approval. This is what they had come to see. The carnage, the spectacle, they would remember this fight for the rest of their lives.

Off to one side of the ring, the other fighters were still staring. Even more than the audience they could appreciate what had just happened.

"Geez!" expressed Infernape.

"Quite," agreed Blaziken.

"Talk about having some unresolved issues. And that clash, did they seriously break the…"

"They did."

"Geez!"

Hariyama stood nearby, stoically silent. There really wasn't much he could have added, except.

"So, which one of us is gonna have to fight that guy?"

The other two groaned. They'd been trying not to think about it.

Sawk stood consulting with the grandmaster. Gallade appeared to consider then, with deliberate slowness, he pointed to Hariyama.

The stoic mask crumbled like a Rockslide and the massive fighters eyes grew to the size of saucers. Sawk saw his reluctance and motioned for him to enter the ring. With rigid, wooden steps he did so.

Buckets of sweat poured off the massive fighter. He dared for a moment to look his opponent in the eye and nearly passed out on the spot. Those eyes were the eyes of madness.

"Fighters ready?"

"Nooooooo!" screamed Hariyama.

"Uh…"

"I quit! I forfeit! Don't make me fight, THAT!"

As if on cue, the terrifying monster of a fighter tilted over backwards and fell to the ground.

Everyone stared in disbelief, none more so than Hariyama, "Um, hehe, well… can we just forget that little..."

But before he could finish, Throh seized him by the belt and hurled him over the audience and out of the temple.

"No, we can't."

Infernape snickered while Blaziken stood beside him, stoically trying not to.

"Now, that's one way to shorten this fic."

"I'm sure he'll make up for it in the next bit."

"I am proud to announce," declared grandmaster Gallade, "our final two combatants. Infernape and Blaziken.

The two fighters looked at each other as the crowd shook the temple with their cheers.

Finally, they thought together.


	28. TA - Light my fire

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 13 – Light my fire

…

Before the final battle could begin, they were informed that the grandmaster had invited them to take tea with him. Of course, they accepted and the table was brought out and set in the center of the ring. Gallade followed with his teapot and three dishes. Sawk followed the grandmaster with his assorted tea making accoutrements.

The two mighty warriors sat quietly as the grandmaster went through the highly ritualized motions of preparing the tea. Even without being practitioners of this particular art, both could read the control and precision in every movement.

They graciously accepted the tea and drank. Blaziken felt its effect before he'd even fully swallowed. It was like a jolt then a cold rush. All the pains he'd recently accumulated, big and small, vanished.

He could see it must have had a similar effect on Infernape, judging by the face he was making.

"Hoo, that'll wake ya up."

The grandmaster chuckled, "Indeed. I trust you are both fully restored."

The fighters bowed to the grandmaster who humbly returned the gesture.

The table and its contents were taken away and the ring was set. The grandmaster retook his seat, Throh at his side, Sawk standing as referee.

"Fighters ready?"

Infernape smirked at the question, "For years."

Blaziken chuckled, "Well, I suppose."

"Oh, now you're gonna get it Blazy."

"BEGIN!"

*BOOM*

The force of the shockwave when the two fists collided threw Sawk from the ring. Throh clung to his seat trying not to follow. Gallade sat serene behind a hastily erected barrier.

"Hehe, gotten slow old man."

"Again with the age thing."

*Boom*

*Boom*

*Crack*

There was no holding back as the two old rivals went at each other. Fists met again and again with bone breaking force, barely slowing down. Adrenaline coursed through veins like lightning and every blow rang like a thunder clap. Savage joy. Pure exhilaration.

The years melted away and they were young fighters again, breaking each other's fists just because. Things heated up when a Fire punch was thrown. The shockwaves of connecting fists blasted sparks like grenades. The audience sat silent, dumbstruck with awe.

They'd not seen a fight this intense since Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan tore a hole in space and time. Remember that, that totally awesome fight. Wasn't it totally epic? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was.

"Not bad Blazy, not bad. I see you do still remember how to fight," Infernape taunted.

"I've forgotten more about fighting than you've ever learned," Blaziken shot back, throwing a fiery kick that arced just over Infernape's head.

"Ha! Old! Old! Senile old," the monkey fighter screamed, vaulting into the air and raining kicks at Blaziken's head.

"Enough with the old," shouted Blaziken, grabbing an assaulting foot and using it to toss his rival across the ring.

Infernape easily recovered then dodged a flaming axe kick aiming to plant his head in the floor. Blaziken followed the decapitating attack with a flurry of kicks so fast his rival could do naught but dodge.

It was an impressive sight, the way the monkey mon bent and twisted out of the way. It was not just his acrobatic skill that allowed him to do this. A similarly skilled Infernape would have been in a bad way under such a furious assault.

As a young Monferno, this Infernape had. Years of fighting together had bred a familiarity that years apart had done nothing to diminish.

The unfamiliar foes they'd fought getting to this point had each been unique, providing a challenge by being unfamiliar. Their fight was entirely the opposite, a challenge that came from an intimate familiarity.

Infernape found the opening right where he knew it would be and countered, putting Blaziken on the defense while he threw flaming fists like they were going out of style. Blaziken blocked and dodged around the familiar pattern with practiced ease. He could have done it in his sleep.

It was perhaps that familiarity that made him lax in minding his footing. The slight catch caused him to look down for just an instant. The punch seemed to come out of nowhere. Catching him on the jaw, staggering him and opening him up to others.

His reaction time was slowed by the ringing in his head and he took almost as many hits as he blocked. A gut punch knocked the wind out of him and a Jump kick sent him to sprawl on the ground.

He groaned into the floor while Infernape danced around him.

"Come on Blazy. You're not giving up already are ya."

Blaziken grunted and pushed himself upright.

"Maybe if you're done warming up, we can get to the real fight," he postured, choosing to ignore the still present ring in his head.

Infernape cackled, "You want it, you got it. Whataw!"

… to be continued


	29. TA - Burn out

Tournament Arc  
Chapter 14 – Burn out (It's over 9000)

…

The air cracked like an angry whip all around the ring. Up in the stands a young Combusken had gone beyond the edge of his seat and stood pressed against the rail.

"Dad."

Ever since his evolution his father had guided him on the fighting path. They'd sparred often, and he thought he had a good idea what his father could do.

He was wrong. He was very wrong. He'd seen things throughout the day that had rewritten his perceptions of what was and was not possible. He'd always known his father was strong, but he'd come to realize he had no idea.

Having learned all this made it that much harder to watch the monkey fighter battering his old man around the ring. The fight had started off evenly but ever since his father had been floored, he'd been on the defense. He wasn't good on the defense. It's not how he fought.

"Hang in there dad."

Blaziken, for his part, was trying to do just that but with little success. His head was heavy and clouded like his brain were full of Mareep, wooly.

Infernape was hard enough to keep up with normally. It was all he could do to not take any more blows to the head. Harder than it sounded since the excitable monkey mon kept leaping up and descending on him.

He'd barely thrown a punch since he'd picked himself up. His body felt out of sync. He could feel his aura at the very edge of his perception, but Infernape was giving him no time to reach it. His rival's assault was relentless.

Infernape had always possessed more vim and vigor than anyone else he'd ever met. It was part of what made him such an inspiring rival, that limitless energy. He wouldn't be slowing down anytime soon, Blaziken knew. He needed to break through and take back the offensive.

He fought through the clouds in his brain and focused. It hurt, but he pushed the pain aside and looked for an opening. Every fighter had a pattern, a rhythm to the way they fought, especially aggressive fighters.

Blaziken suffered through a dozen aerial Stomp attacks before he saw it. Dodging number thirteen his hand flashed out and grabbed him, by the tail.

Infernape gave an indignant screech as he was smashed into the floor by his tail.

"Blazy! I thought we agreed no tail pulling," the monkey mon whined.

"Don't go sticking it out there then." He wouldn't normally have resorted to such a tactic, he knew how much his rival hated having his tail pulled.

"That's how its gonna be, huh? Fine."

A swirling inferno surrounded Infernape and Blaziken took a reflexive step back. He wasn't surprised when the Flame wheel turned upright and came at him.

He countered with a Blaze kick and for a moment the two attacks appeared at a stalemate. The moment quickly passed and Blaziken was pushed back before he abandoned the clash and dodged out of the way.

Infernape exploded from the fire like a demon, raining down flaming fists and feet, little difference in his case. Blaziken tried to push back with his own attack but Infernape pressed in furiously. He was mad now, and Blaziken was finding it harder and harder to focus through the pain in his head.

The inevitable happened when his hands dropped too low for just a second. It started as one hit, then two, then three. By the fourth he had lost count, but it still took a few more before he crashed to the ground.

"Dad!"

Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered his sons cry, but it was swiftly lost behind the chorus of bells rattling his skull.

"That'll show ya, grab my tail," Infernape grumbled as he approached his fallen rival. "Get up Blazy, we ain't done yet."

Blaziken wasn't sure he agreed. He struggled to move his body, nothing seemed to respond like it should. He managed to make his knees before he had to stop. He forced several slow deep breaths, trying to reorient his senses.

The opposite effect was achieved, sight and sound lost meaning and everything became waves.

Somehow, through all the physical trauma, he had reached his aura, again.

Choosing not to ponder on the phenomenon he came to his feet and faced his angry rival. Infernape barely waited for him to stand before resuming his attack. Blaziken felt him come, the energy moving before him telegraphing his attack more clearly than any visual tick ever could. It didn't help.

Infernape had always been the faster of them. He'd not realized just how much faster till now. Even with his aura helping to guide him Blaziken was still being thrashed around the ring. Never in his life had he felt so overwhelmed. He struggled to match his rival, even managing to tag him with a glancing blow on the jaw but Infernape was undeterred and powered through.

The longer the fight went the more he felt his aura shift, that deeper power swelling up. Unlike the last time it did not seem angry and violent, it felt desperate. It made sense, he was desperate. He'd finally realized the hard, painful truth of the matter. His rival had surpassed him.

The years he'd spent starting a family, Infernape had spent honing his skills to a razor's edge. When he'd first seen the monkey mon at the temple gate it had been just like old times. Nothing had seemed different. Now he realized, it was just him.

"Is this it?" Infernape demanded, "Is this all you got now?"

For a moment his senses returned, and he could hear the disgust in his rival's tone. The power rising within him swelled even further, the only outward sign a harsh scowl.

"And what if it is?" Blaziken asked.

Infernape spat angrily, "All these years I've wanted to fight you again. You, the only mon I ever considered my equal. And now, here we are, this is what I'm given. Family life made you soft Blaziken."

This accusation caused the power to swell again, it felt as though it might burst at any second.

"Maybe you're right. My family has made me soft," he said. "They have made me a lot of things. Calm, patient as well."

"How nice."

"It is," said Blaziken as he began to glow, "It is thanks to them, and the things I have learned that have allowed me to awaken something new. Let me show you!"

Infernape gaped when the glow surrounding Blaziken became a shining shell that shone like a tiny sun.

"What the hell!"

"Grandmaster! What's happening?" cried Sawk as he and Throh cowered behind Gallade and his barrier.

"His power level is rising rapidly" the grandmaster observed, eyes widening in shock, "Could it be, this form, it's over NINE THOUSAND!"

"When did this turn into a Dragon ball fic?" whispered Throh.

Sawk just shrugged.

Infernape braced himself when the shining egg exploded, and his rival was revealed. He gaped at the altered appearance, and the waves of power that rolled off the new Blaziken.

"Thank you," he said, "without you there to push me, I would never have reached 'this'."

Infernape gulped, "Why do I get the feeling this thank you comes with a beating?"

Blaziken smiled, "You know me too well."

Coursing with unimaginable power, Blaziken shot at his rival with impossible speed. Reacting without thought Infernape leapt into the air to avoid the rush.

Blaziken had anticipated this and followed him without breaking stride. Completely unprepared for his rivals new found power, Infernape could only try to shield himself from the flaming Jump kick that planted itself in his gut.

Never in his life had he felt such force in a single attack. The one that followed hurt even more. He was limp as a ragdoll when Blaziken grabbed him and hurled him at the ground.

Before he landed, he had a glimpse of his old rival silhouetted by the sun. In that instant, a strange sense of calm overtook him, acceptance.

His landing was meteoric. His crater felt like a good place to take a nap, so he did.

Blaziken touched down lightly next to the unconscious form of his rival. He bowed to the sleeping monkey mon.

"Thank you, my friend," he said, then turned to the audience who stared in awestruck silence.

A single fist raised in the air broke the spell and the temple shook dangerously with the sound of their cheers.


	30. TA - Epilogue

Tournament Arc  
Epilogue

…

"You were great dad! Really great!"

Blaziken smiled indulgently as his son repeated himself for the umpteenth time. It was sweet, really, but he clearly needed to expand the boy's vocabulary.

The championship ceremony was long past, and he'd been receiving congratulations for hours. It was nice, and he did appreciate the sentiment, but he was just about ready to call it a night.

Rather than serve as a crowning achievement in his fighting career the tournament had opened a whole other avenue for him to explore. He badly needed rest and a chance to consider everything that had happened. The crowds had been dwindling and it looked like he might get his wish when a familiar figure strode through the spartan group.

"Lucario?" This was unexpected.

"Blaziken," the aura fighter greeted.

"I was not expecting to see you."

"I was observing from elsewhere in the temple," he said, "it was quite the thrill to observe your first Mega evolution. How did it feel?"

"Like nothing I have ever experienced." Words did not exist to describe the sensation.

Lucario nodded like he understood, "You have a long hard road ahead, if you wish to master this power."

"I do," said Blaziken.

Lucario smiled, "I thought you might say that. In which case, I have a proposition I'd like to make."

…

"Well, well look who it is. Come to rub salt in my wounds while I'm too weak to resist."

Blaziken smiled, "When else am I going to do it?"

Infernape tried to hold his scowl but he couldn't do it and stated snickering. This quickly turned to groaning, "You see what you did to me Blazy?"

"Did I crack you up a bit?"

The terrible pun started a chortle that ended in an agonized cry, "It hurts to laugh. No more, no more."

He could have gone on, but he reigned in the impulse to torment his rival. But only just.

"How do you feel?" he asked, sitting down next to the convalescing primate.

"Like you pulled some crazy bullshit out of your ass and then kicked mine up and down the stairs a few times. What the hell was that?"

"Some crazy shit I pulled out of my ass."

Infernape fought back the snickers with a pained groan, "Seriously though. You've had this weird vibe around you most of the day. What's going on?"

Blaziken sighed. He needed to tell him, he just wasn't sure how.

"Something happened, after my fight with Toxicroak. While I was meditating I tapped into something."

"What?"

"Aura."

Infernape gave him a skeptical look, "Sounds like mumbo jumbo to me."

"How does it feel?" Blaziken countered.

Infernape flinched, "Touché."

"I know it sounds ridiculous. If I wasn't living it, I wouldn't believe it either. But there's more."

"More?"

"Lucario has offered to train me. His kind are natural aura users and have trained others before."

"Well that's good, I guess." The monkey mon began to mope.

It'll be funny to see how he handles this, Blaziken thought. "There's a problem though. The training could take years."

"Bummer," said Infernape noncommittally.

"Yes, and just when Combusken is truly starting to develop. That's why I must ask you a favor."

"Hmm."

"I need you to train my son."

"What! Oh, ow! Ow! Not funny Blazy!"

"It wasn't a joke."

Infernape stared in horror, "Wha, but, are you serious?"

"Completely."

"But, you, you'd really trust 'me' with your kid?"

"Implicitly."

Infernape was stunned. No one had ever said that to him, "I… I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll do it."

"But, I've never trained anyone else before. Especially not a kid. What do I even do?"

"What did your master do?"

"Hit me on the head with a stick till I learned to dodge."

"It's a start," said Blaziken. "There's a Mankey back home he fights with a lot. Maybe you train him too. Give them someone to break their knuckles against."

Infernape couldn't help but smile at that, "Just like us."

"Seems to have worked out pretty well, for one of us at least."

"Haha, oh, Blazy please," the monkey begged, mirthful tears streaming down his face.

"So, will you do it?"

He thought about it for a time. Would he? Could he? Should he? In the end there could only be one answer, "I'll do it."

"Thank you."

"On one condition," he continued. "You can't be training forever, so when you come back, I want a rematch, Deal?" he said, holding out a bandaged fist.

Blaziken smiled and extend a fist of his own, "Deal."


	31. JMT - A question of family

Just my type  
A question of family

…

There was one thing you learned when growing up in a house full of energetic siblings, and cousins. No, it wasn't to watch your P's and Q's. It wasn't, learn to share or compromise or get along with people you didn't really like. No, no nothing so cliché. The one thing you learned, when surrounded by hyperactive lunatics, was how to duck.

"Coming through! Gang way! MOVE IT LOSERS!" The yellow streak zipped through the yard recklessly. It wasn't big enough for him to get up to a good run, but that had never stopped Dash from trying, not once.

"Hey! Watch it!" squealed Silky, the Vaporeon glaring after her far too energetic brother.

"Outta the way, outta the way!" he screamed, heedless of any in his path, which those in his path did not appreciate.

"Come near me and I'll roast your ass Dash," growled Ember. Being a Flareon one would expect her to be hot tempered, which actually couldn't have been farther from the truth for the maternal and nurturing fire floof, normally.

"Better move cuz I'm coming through," shouted the sparky thunder dog.

"Oh no you're not. FLAMETHROWER!"

Patience at its end, Ember released her attack on her surprised sibling. Frantically he dodged, just scraping past the burning attack which powered through the recently vacated space, right at their other sibling.

"Yipe!" Silky shrieked and dove into the pool to avoid a good crisping. Popping out after the blast had passed, "OOOO! You two. HYDRO PUMP!"

Powerful geysers rose from the pool and rushed at the two land bound siblings.

"Aw crap!"

"Silky, my fur!" Ember cried, rushing for higher ground.

The water smacked down on the yard like a fat man doing a belly flop. Silky smirked victoriously from the much-diminished pool, "That'll teach ya!" she crowed, chortling at her sopping brother and her sister clinging to the edge of the roof.

Dash grumpily shook himself, sending water and sparks flying, "That was not funny Silky."

"Says you," she replied with a superior grin.

"Oh yeah. SPARK!"

The surge of electricity skipped through the sitting water and leapt into the pool before the water type could blink. "YeeeeYeeeeYeeee!"

"Oh, for goodness sake," Ember complained, scrambling and scraping to get on the roof.

"Well, well, what do we have here," a dark sinister figure lurked into view, casting a shadow over the struggling Flareon.

"Sombra, help me."

"Hmm, yes I could do that," the Umbreon said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But I have a better idea." Slamming his paws down on top of hers, he whispered in her ear, "Long live the king."

"What, no, Sombra don't yu… aaaaaagh!" *SPLAT* "Ugh, SOMBRA! I hate you so much right now. Yugh! Do you have any idea how long it's going to take to clean this out of my fur?"

Sombra chuckled wickedly, staring down at his cousin, firmly planted in the muddy flower bed. He was so busy enjoying his schadenfreude he completely missed the presence sneaking up on his unprotected behind, till it was too late.

*quietly* "sombra."

*Not quietly* "YIPE!"

With a squeak and a leap, he was off the roof and a moment later, joining his cousin in the mud, staring up at his sister, smirking like only a sister can smirk.

"Having fun down there?" she inquired sweetly.

"Very funny Amore," the Umbreon growled at the Espeon on the roof.

"Call me Simba."

"Hey jerk, having fun in the mud," quipped Dash, trotting over to tease his cousin.

"Why don't you come a little closer and find out." Grabbing a handful of thick black mud, Sombra hurled it at his sparking cousin, "MUD-SLAP!"

The squishy attack knocked the thunder dog off his surprised feet, the wicked laughter of his vile cousin echoing in his ears. "Cheap shot!" he accused.

"Dark type," he replied.

"Oh really, you boys," Amore chastised, lightly floating down to land on her brother and hop daintily past the mud. Her posh prancing halted however when her foot touched the water, "YEEK!" and absorbed a few stray volts that were still swimming around.

"Haha!" mocked Sombra, "ha, ha, uh, oof. Can someone help me out of the mud?"

"I can." Eyes widened as a twitching Silky approached with a wicked gleam in her eye.

"Uh, no, never mind, I'm good. Silky. Silky let's be reasonable about this."

From the doorway of the porch, a little Eevee watched his sister rain watery fury on his cousin, and because he happened to be standing close enough, his brother. Unlike his brother the little Eevee was both dry and clean, having vacated the yard as soon as his brother had started running.

As the youngest and smallest, he'd learned to spot pattern behavior which led to incidents like this. It helped that his family were all rather predictable.

"Hey Squirt, they at it again?"

The Eevee, Squirt, and yes that was his name, looked up at yet another of his cousins as she observed the melee in the yard with a calm discerning eye.

"Yeah. Dash started doing laps around the yard, then Ember tried to roast him and almost hit Silky so she flooded the yard then Dash zapped Silky, Sombra did his Scar and dropped Ember in the mud then Amore went all Simba and dropped him in the mud and then, well…"

"Yeah, this," she said. "Hey Lake, we rolling?"

"We are, we are," said the Glaceon with camera. "We putting this one up on the sight or just in joke archive Meadow?"

"Hmm, well we'll see how it plays out. Boy they are dirty. Where are they getting all that mu, mu… MY AZALEA'S!" Screaming like a mad mon the enraged Leafeon charged into the fray.

"Oo, this just got ugly," said Squirt.

"Definitely going on the site," said Lake.

His cousins Meadow and Lake were famous adventure and battle bloggers. They frequently traveled to strange and exotic places to explore, battle, and then tell everyone about it. Though if their numbers were to be believed, the most popular blogs were the ones they did at home. Actually, it wasn't all that hard to believe.

"They are really getting into it," Lake commented, focusing her lens on Sombra.

"Oh Arceus get her off me!"

"Yep," agreed Squirt, stifling a yawn. He'd seen his family brawl before. This was nothing special.

"Spose you'll wanna get in on this pretty soon, huh little guy?"

"… yeah I guess."

"Been thinking about which way you wanna go?"

"Not really," he lied.

"Shouldn't keep putting that off you know. The longer you wait the harder it'll be to learn certain moves."

"I know," it's not like he hadn't been told a million times by ever single member of his family. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later, provided they don't knock down the house."

"Don't be so negative Squirt. It was only the one time."

Evolution. In Pokémon culture it was usually something to get excited over. Everyone looked forward to the day they would finally evolve. Except Farfetch'd but Farfetch'd was a dodo. His siblings and cousins talked with great excitement about their own evolution, even Sombra who was usually so grumpy.

For Squirt this only made things worse. Choice, that was the problem; not a lack of choice, but an excess of choice. Eevee were spoiled for choice when it came to evolution. The number of elements they didn't have a form for was the minority. But how was he supposed to choose?

He'd asked his family that very question, and no one had been able to give him a good answer. None of them had suffered through the indecision like he did. They all knew what they wanted to be from the get-go, or so they claimed, and when they said it, he believed it. Their personalities all seemed to fit perfectly with the evolution they'd chosen.

Dash had always been hyper and excitable. Ember had always been passionate and a bit hot tempered. Silky usually let things slide off her like water, and Sombra and Amore couldn't have been more like day and night to each other if they'd tried. Meadow and Lake had found their evolution's while out adventuring which fit the two of them perfectly, and Satiné, the Sylveon, could not have exemplified the posh indulgence associated with her type any better.

But then there was Squirt, the youngest of four. Loved by all, except maybe Sombra, he was buried under an avalanche of well-meaning expectations. Deep down he knew they were just trying to be helpful, and how could they know all their whispered hints and suggestions were just adding to the pressure that was crushing him like a big fat Snorlax.

He sighed as he trudged down the street. He loved his family, but he desperately needed to get away from them for a while. He couldn't take any more well-meaning advice, or he was going to say something he didn't mean and couldn't take back.

Lost in his own world, he never even saw the familiar mon he was approaching. The mon took note of this and calmly stuck his foot out. "Oof!" and down went Squirt.

Squirt glared at the sound of snickering, a look that barely softened when he saw who it was snickering at him, "Sly! Why'd you trip me?"

Sylvester, Sly, grinned at the little mon. "Why weren't you watching your feet?" the Tyrogue shot back.

Squirt sighed, his anger fading quickly, "Just, lot on my mind."

"The evolution thing again?"

Squirt nodded, sighing yet again. Sly, unlike most mon, had some inkling into his problem. Like he, the Tyrogue also had a multiple-choice evolution, and like he, had not yet chosen which way he intended to go. Because of this, he wore an Everstone as a necklace wherever he went so it wouldn't just happen till he was sure which one he wanted.

The difference was, Sly didn't have any siblings, his indecision came from completely selfish motivations. "Been thinking a lot about that myself lately," he said.

"Don't hurt yourself," Squirt quipped, earning him a glare which he happily received.

It wasn't sincere, the slam or the glare, that was just how they were, bros.

"As I was saying," he said pompously, while Squirt sat there smirking, "having thought long and hard on this very problem, I have come to the only logical conclusion."

"This aughta be good." That he did mean, sarcastically. He'd heard more than a few of his friend's 'genius' ideas before. The only question was, how far up the idiot scale would this one be.

"You just listen smarty tail. It's clear the answer you seek is not to be found where you are."

"Uh huh."

"You have all your options laid out before you, yet you stand paralyzed, unable to choose a direction."

"And your point."

"My point is, you're never going to make a decision when you have a house full of mon trying to help you. You have to get away, be your own mon, find out what makes you, you."

"Huh," thinking about it, the idea had some appeal, and he was certainly right about them trying to 'help' make the decision. "Alright, I'm in. Let's do it."

The Tyrogue's smile nearly split his face, "Woohoo! Road trip!"


	32. JMT - The grass is always greener

Just my type  
The grass is always greener

…

Every journey begins with a single step. For Squirt that step was taken on the run.

"Bro, I know they're family, but those girls are crazy."

The reactions had been mixed when he'd told them he was going on a trip of self-discovery. Meadow and Lake said it was a great idea; no surprise, adventure and travel were their thing. Sombra had snidely told him not to get lost in the dark, only to have his head shoved into the floor by his sister.

His immediate family had been the hard ones though. Silky had cried and wailed that he was leaving, and he didn't love her anymore and why did he have to go. Dash had wanted to come with, but Ember had promptly put an end to that. He'd thought that meant she approved of his decision, but then she'd grabbed him and started wailing even louder than Silky and crying how she wouldn't let him go.

Every attempt to escape or calm her down had just been met with further hysterics, which had set Silky off again and the two of them had dogpiled him and cried and cried how they'd never let him leave. The only one more embarrassed by the whole thing than him was Dash, they were his sisters too.

Arceus bless Amore who had put an end to it by sending the two of them to sleep with her Hypnosis. He'd been scared she was going to do the same to him but instead she'd stroked his head, given him a kiss, and told Lake and Meadow to help him pack. His heart had soared, right up to the point he reached the door to leave and his sisters came stumbling down the hall zombie like, confused, half-asleep, and more terrifying than when they were fully awake.

Sly had blanched when Squirt shouted, "Run for it."

Not how he'd wanted to start his grand journey, "I hope this trip lasts a while. I'm afraid of what they'll do if I go back too soon."

"Probably wrap you up in Mareep wool and never let you out of the house again."

His whole body dropped when he sighed; it was just the sort of thing they would do. "Ya know, when Sombra told me not to get lost in the dark, I thought he was just being snotty. Now I'm not so sure."

It was midday as they walked through the forest, but you wouldn't have known it. The foliage was so thick and dense it turned the bright golden sun to a dim smattered speckle. It was pretty in its way but also very dark. With the density of the undergrowth it would be very easy to get lost, he could only imagine what it would be like when the sun set.

"I've been through this forest before," said Sly, adjusting his small pack hung over one shoulder. "We should come out the other end before sunset. Lots of places to make camp at the edge."

"If you say so," this was the farthest Squirt had ever been from home. It was scary and exciting, and he was glad he had his friend along, because there is no way he could have done this on his own.

"I wouldn't worry about going back too soon either," said Sly, picking up the previous topic. "I've got this whole thing planned."

Uh oh, "Why do I get the feeling you've been working on this for a lot longer than I know."

The Tyrogue glanced back at his friend with a grin, "What makes ya say that?"

Squirt groaned at his friend cocksure attitude, "Alright, let's hear it, where are we going?" He didn't have a destination in mind himself, that wasn't what the trip was about for him. Sly on the other hand.

"Everywhere!" the Tyrogue declared.

"Sounds like a lot of stops."

The fighting type snickered at his friends lack of enthusiasm, "You need to stop being so negative. It's not the destination that matters, it's the journey."

This was true, but it didn't make him feel any better. "Seriously though, where are we going."

"I got a few places I'd like to check out," Sly admitted. "Beyond that, wherever our feet take us. We cast our lot with fate and let the winds of chance be our guide."

He would have continued waxing poetic but at the mention of winds of chance, the winds of chance decided to drop a Vileplume on his head.

*WHOOM*

Squirt stared at his flattened friend and at the thing that flattened him. "I don't think I feel like casting my lot with the winds of chance Sly." Looked kinda painful.

"Ugh, oh, now that was a bit of a fall." Slowly sitting up, the Vileplume held its head till the little Pidgey's stopped circling it.

"You alright?" asked Squirt.

"Think so. That landing was a bit softer than I thought it would be."

"You hear that Sly? You're a soft landing."

The flattened Tyrogue grumbled something impolite but ultimately unintelligible, given his face was shoved into the ground.

Horribly embarrassed, the Vileplume rolled off Sly and tried to stand, wobbling a bit in the process. "I am terribly sorry. Are you alright?"

Sly muttered several things into the ground before lifting himself out of the hole, "I'm fine," he grumbled. "What the heck were you doing up in that tree?"

"Hm? Oh, I was trying to get some sunshine," said the grass type.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just get out of the forest?" askes Squirt.

"Well yes, normally, but as I was passing through the forest, I got so tired because it's so dark. I thought if I could just get a few minutes of good clean sunshine I could make it through," he said, still wobbling and looking like he might topple over any second.

Mollified, and itching his nose, "Well I guess its not a big deal, I… I… Hachoo!"

Rocked by the power of the sneeze, Sly landed on his butt with a look of bewilderment. "Wow! Where did that come from?"

"Oh dear. That would be my pollen," said the Vileplume drunkenly.

"Pollen?" wondered Squirt. Sniffing at the air, a surprise scurried up his nose. "Ha… ha… CHOO!"

"Haha," Sly laughed, "ha… ha… choo!"

"Hachoo!"

"Oh good gri… hachoo!"

"This is getting… hachoo!"

"Oh dear, oh my, so sorry," the Vileplume apologized, eyes half closed, petals drooping.

"Squirt, we nee, ah, ah, HachOO! We need to get out of here," said Sly.

"But what about hi… hachoo! What about him?"

The Vileplume was fully gone by this point. Eyes closed, he swayed drunkenly, waiting for gravity to do its work and bring him to the ground.

Sly clearly would have preferred to leave him but he could see his Eevee friend was determined to help. "Here, take this," he said, handing over his pack.

Squaring up with his target, he rushed the grass Pokémon, flung him into the air, then caught him on his shoulders as he came down, "Come on. The sooner we, hachoo! The sooner we get out of here the sooner we get away from this guy."

Squirt added his friends pack to his own and scurried after him, sneezing all the way.

It was a really, really, not good start to his journey, but on the plus side, as he watched his friend haul the slumbering plant mon through the forest he came to a conclusion. "I don't think grass type is for me."


	33. JMT - A shocking development

Just My Type  
A shocking development

…

There are many things that are considered common sense. Look both ways before crossing the street. Don't put your hand on a hot stove. Sticking your finger in an electrical socket is a bad idea, unless you're an electric type.

Squirt had always thought that 'not' walking around in an open field with a metal rod in the middle of a thunderstorm was just common sense. But perhaps that was why he hung out with Sylvester, to learn how wrong he was to make such assumptions.

"This is a bad idea Sly."

"It is not. It's a brilliant idea."

The Tyrogue held a steel rod in each hand as they meandered through the meadow while angry storm clouds rolled overhead.

"You're insane."

"I'm a genius."

There was no point trying to reason with him, Squirt knew. His mind was already made up and he was sure his plan was going to work. Squirt was certain the only thing that would come of this was pain, and disappointment. And he planned to be standing just far enough away to make sure he didn't share in the pain part.

"There has to be better ways to learn Thunder Punch."

"If you've got an idea, I'm listening."

He didn't, but just because he couldn't think of one was no reason to be trying to get struck by lightning. As a fighting type his friend was prone to doing a lot of foolish things in the name of, training; but this was a whole new level of dumb.

This was dumber than the time he'd tried learning Fire punch by setting his hands on fire. Dumber than the time he'd tried to learn Rock Throw by chucking around that Geodude without his permission. Locking himself in the freezer to contemplate the nature of cold may have helped him learn Ice Punch, but that didn't make it any less dumb.

And now this, trying to get struck by lightning in order to learn Thunder Punch. "I worry about you sometimes, ya know that."

Sly just brushed off the concern, "Meh. This is gonna work. Just you watch."

He would, watch that is. It wasn't very nice, but he fully expected his friend to succeed and he wanted to be there to see it. See him get struck by lightning that is. To both their disappointment however, the storm was not cooperating.

"How hard can it be to get struck by lightning?" said no person in their right mind ever.

They'd been walking through the meadow for over an hour and while the clouds had flashed and rumbled ominously, nothing. They were starting to lose hope when they spotted a tree, and Sly got an idea.

"Stand under the tree."

Everyone knew you should never stand under a tree in a thunderstorm, common sense. At least it was if you were like most people and trying 'not' to get struck by lightning. "Maybe I should climb the tree."

Brilliant ideas for how to better get electrocuted were thrown around as they approached the old arborean, all of which increased a few levels of difficulty when they got to it and found it already occupied.

"Well what do we have here?" queried the Mandibuzz snidely.

"None a yur business?" Sly shot back without missing a beat.

The large vulture like flying type cackled from its superior position, "You ought to be careful waving those around," she said, indicating his metal rods. "The results could be quite, shocking."

"That's what I'm hoping for," he said, completely serious.

The Mandibuzz stared, "Uh, you wanna run that by me again."

"He's trying to get electrocuted," Squirt filled in.

The Mandibuzz blinked, then blinked again, "Are you serious."

"Very," said Sly proudly.

Well that was too much for the Mandibuzz, "BWAhahahahahaha! That, that… BWahahahahahahaha!" The flying type broke down in raucous laughter, unable to contain her mirth which burst out like a sock filled with too much jam.

Sly glared at the snarky bird Pokémon, but it had no effect. "It's not funny!" he shouted.

She thought it was, but all attempts to say as much were lost between the babbling giggles that broke into wheezing guffaws that nearly sent her falling from the tree.

Sly continued to glare but he couldn't think of anything else to say, not to the Mandibuzz anyway, "I'm surprised you aren't getting in on this."

Squirt smiled at his punchy friend, "Nothing funny yet. I'm waiting for when you actually get electrocuted. Then I'll laugh."

"Well that's just, hrm!"

Squirt snickered as his friend stomped toward the tree. He may have been annoyed but it wouldn't divert him from his plan or stop him from pouting which didn't make it any easier for those watching to hold in the titter's. Not that one of them was trying.

"Hey, hey! You mind if I have a bite once you're done cooking? Bwahahahahahahah!"

Sly growled but gave no response. A true warrior must endure all things.

"Hey, hey! I got an idea. Maybe if you could put a couple Rattata on the end of those rods," the Mandibuzz offered helpfully. "Then I could have appetizers with my dinner. Bwahahahahahahaha!"

"Ignore her. Just ignore her," Sly chanted quietly to himself.

"Hey! While you're at it, why don't you add some mushrooms, maybe a Bellsprout or two, make it a proper kebob. Bwahahahaha!" the Mandibuzz began to cackle, only to be cut off midway by karmic backlash, and also the storm, "AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaH!"

Lightning leapt from the sky, reaching for the earth like an angry hand. Power coursed through the tree, lighting up its occupants like Halloween skeleton before passing through to the oppositely charged earth. Sly, filled with jubilation, and several million volts, jittered spastically till the surge had passed then promptly fell out of the tree.

"That was, awesome," Sly squeaked. "Laugh at that."

"Ha, eek! Ha, eek!" 'laughed' Squirt who, contrary to his intention, had been standing a little too close.

"And you thought it wouldn't work."

"I hoped, eek! It wouldn't, eek! Work… eek!" His fur stood out like the quills on a porcupine and continued sparking, causing him to jump with each jolt. How annoying. "So, do you think, eek! You can Thunder punch, eek! Now?"

"It's not that simple," said Sly, finally getting his arms to move again and painfully prying the metal rods from his hands.

"Ew!" Squirt expressed, "Smells cooked."

"Speaking of cooked," said Sly, turning to their annoying commentator. "Oy! Nothing to say."

Apparently not, as the Mandibuzz sat perfectly still, unmoving, unspeaking.

Never one to be ignored, Sly approached the tree, and when the Mandibuzz made no move, he gave it a good hard kick. The lightning smote tree shook, the bird on the limb shook, and with dramatic slowness, tilted over backwards and fell from the tree.

"Well look at that."

Smoking like a cooked goose, the Mandibuzz lay where she'd fallen, dead as a dormouse. Or was it nail?

"Guess that'll teach her to mouth off," said Sly.

"Or sit in a tree during a thunderstorm," added Squirt.

"You'd think a flying type would know better."

The Eevee nodded, "So… now what?"

Sly looked at the dead bird and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "We don't have any mushrooms, do we?"


	34. JMT - Flow like a waterfall

Just My Type  
Flow like a waterfall

…

The earth shook with a sound like thunder, but there was not a cloud in the sky. The sun was bright, the sky was clear, the bird Pokémon flitted about gaily; and when I say gaily, I mean gayly. The noise originated from six high falls, fed by a single massive river, sending gallon upon gallon of water crashing down to the rocks below. A peculiar sort of assault but certainly not the most peculiar the day would see.

Upon said rocks, a certain Tyrogue stood preparing to face the challenge.

"This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do," said Squirt, sitting back from his friend on the closest thing to a dry spot he could find, which meant being only slightly damp.

"Hush! I'm trying to focus."

Breathe in, breathe out. Sly stood, building a meditative trance till he was absolutely focused.

"You know how to swim, right?"

"Geh!" The interruption broke his focus and his sense of balance fled in panic. It was only through much grunting and flailing that he did not fall into the water. Sending a glare back at his friend who whistled innocently while refusing to look him in the eye, "I guess if I can't you'll have to evolve into a water type and save me."

"You got a water stone on ya?" It was true Vaporeon was an option, and thus far it was one of the options he hadn't dismissed. There were just certain prerequisites, like a magic rock.

After the encounter with the Vileplume in the forest, his decision to avoid the grass type had not changed. He loved Meadow, but he couldn't see himself going that direction. Thunder too, though he knew it would break Dash's heart. Just something about being struck by lightning; although…

"Maybe I'll just give you a good zap instead," he taunted, making his friend cringe.

The lightning tree incident, painful though it was, had not been a complete waste. Sly had been able to master the principals of the Thunder punch, faster than fire or ice if he was to be believed. But what shocked them both, Sly more than Squirt, was that the little Eevee had, quite by accident, learned Thunder shock, and demonstrated this on the unsuspecting fighter.

Sly was at a complete loss to explain it, though Squirt thought he had some idea. He'd seen the move used hundreds of times; Dash had always been keen on training. He wouldn't normally have learned the electric attack, but apparently something about being struck by lightning had triggered it and all that observation had allowed him to give his friend a good zap neither of them had seen coming.

Despite this, he still didn't intend to go with the electric path. It was cool being able to use an electric attack, but something about the whole event just soured him on the idea. At least he'd stopped sparking. That had been super annoying.

"Alright, that's enough from the peanut gallery." Turning back to the falls, he resumed his focus and took his stance.

The water was descending with incredible force, gravity was certainly doing its job. It was not enough to crush him, all at once, but standing under the falls would feel like a great weight was upon his shoulders. That wasn't his plan. This particular waterfall wasn't good for standing under. The pool was too deep, but with the rock ledge placed within easy reach, it was perfect for what he did have in mind.

"ToooooWAH!" A single punch struck the falling water, briefly disturbing the stream before it resumed its normal flow.

"ToooooWAH!" Again his fist broke the aqueous wall, again the disturbance was brief.

Squirt sat and watched with unconcealed boredom. Punching waterfalls. How absolutely stupid. Sly of course disagreed. It was an ancient and time-tested training method. Squirt thought time was really lowering its standards for this one.

"ToooooWAH!" The fists started coming faster as Sly pummeled the waterfall.

Squirt yawned as his friend beat the poor defenseless waterfall for what seemed like hours, in actuality, fifteen minutes, before he stopped to take a break. He was panting hard and his face was red. A good start he figured.

"Ready to give up?" asked Squirt.

"You kiddin?" he shot back, "I'm just getting started. This waterfall doesn't know who it's messing with."

Unbeknownst to him, the waterfall was listening, and cackling. It was hard to hear over the roaring, but it was there. This silly punchy mon thought he was all that. The waterfall had withstood his type before and would again, but no one had withstood the waterfall when it decided to get serious.

Fortunately for Sly it wasn't going to get serious. Quite the opposite, as it had found humiliation to be the better way for dealing with punchy mons.

"KAAAAAAAAAR…"

"Huh?" SPLAT!

Assaulted out of nowhere, Sly dropped backward into the pond with an odd mass attached to his face. Squirt, shocked by the suddenness of it all made no move till Sly burst from the water.

"Sly! Are you alright?"

"I been better," he grumbled, peeling the floundering Magikarp from his face.

"Karp."

"Grrr! Stupid Magikarp." With a wind up and a toss he hurled the most common fish Pokémon over the top of the waterfall and out of sight.

"Good distance."

"Meh, not bad," he said, climbing out of the water and back onto the rock. "Now, where was I?"

"KAAAAAAAAAAR…"

"Huh?" SPLAT!

"Sly!" The Tyrogue surfaced a moment later, sputtering and cursing and once again with a Magikarp flopping on his face. It was all Squirt could do not to laugh. "Having fun there Sly?" he tried not to snicker.

Pulling the flopping fish Pokémon off he glared at the Eevee, "So much fun. Can't you tell?"

Furiously he sent the fish flying over the falls and ascended his rock.

"KAAAAAAAR…

"What the!" BIG SPLAT!

This time it was too much and the little Eevee burst out laughing. His friend, weighed down by a massive Magikarp, did not see the humor, or much of anything else with the massive Magikarp on his face. "Okay. This has gone far enough."

He didn't bother to send the fish back this time, tossing it into the pond behind him before climbing back onto his rock and ignoring his chortling friend.

"KAAAAAAAR…"

"TooooooWAH!" A mighty punch sent the fish flying into the air. "Ha! How ya like that!"

"KAAAAAAAAAR…"

"Kaaaaaaaar…"

"KaaaAAAAAaaaaaRRRR…"

"Oh boy."

Magikarp rained, and when it Magikarp rains it Magikarp pours. The water itself seemed to turn into Magikarp which descended on the two unsuspecting mon in force.

"Yipe!"

"Look out!"

The two friends, unable to combat the wave, were forced to dodge, dancing around falling Magikarp who couldn't be so good as to get out of the way but had to remain underfoot, flopping around like orange banana peels.

"I told you this was a stupid idea!" Squirt shouted, smacking aside a couple fish as he dodged another headed for his tail.

"It's an ancient tradition, whup!" cried Sly as he slipped and went into the drink again.

"Yeah, yeah, time-tested, I know," said Squirt, body checking a flying Magikarp off its path. "Ha! How ya like that!"

It didn't, and it expressed this in the only way its tiny brain knew how. By glowing.

"Aw crud," complained Sly as he watched the glowing Magikarp grow and expand till it towered over them and stopped glowing.

"Uh oh."

The Gyarados leered down at the tiny mon and spoke in a deep gravely voice, "Hope you can swim boys," before unleashing his attack. "SURF!"

Rising from the pond a massive wave grabbed them up and swept them away, depositing them well from the falls, surrounded by flopping, beached Magikarp.

"Well, that didn't go quite how I'd envisioned it," Sly admitted damply.

Squirt glared at his sopping friend who paid the ire directed at him no mind. "That's it, I'm picking the next stop," he shouted, sopping mad.

"Okay. Where we goin?"

"Somewhere far away from any body of water bigger than a bathtub."


	35. JMT - Ribbons and frills

Just My Type  
Ribbons and Frills

…

"Uuuuuugh!"

"Guuuuuuh!"

"This is the last time I let you pick somewhere to go."

"Guuuuuuh!"

"How one person can be that… UGH! It… it just, boggles the mind."

"Guuuuuuh!"

"Why did we come here anyway. What made you think this was a good idea?"

"Hadn't seen her in a while," groaned Squirt.

"If I never see her again it'll be too soon."

"She's not this bad when she comes to visit."

"Just when she's at home."

"I guess."

Satiné, his Sylveon cousin, was not someone any of his family went to visit, ever. Squirt had often wondered why since she was never shy in visiting them. Now he understood.

"Frilly ribbon dogs are the worst."

This had been their destination after the waterfall, and the Gyarados. He'd thought a visit to the cousin he didn't see regularly might be fun. He was wrong, oh so wrong.

It hadn't started out bad. She'd been thrilled to see him, Sly too, which was weird since they'd never met. They'd been welcomed with open arms, fed till they were full, warm beds, the whole nine yards. They were so busy being distracted by all the luxury, they didn't notice it at first, but after the first week it was impossible to ignore.

"Oh, you'll look so dashing in this hat. This bow would be perfect on your tail. Could you turn your head a little to the left, THAT'S IT, now keep it there!"

His cousin was an artist, an artist in desperate want of models. She'd been gentle about it at first, making it seem like a game, just a fun little thing they could do. But as the days passed their host became more demanding till they were practically prisoners of the frilly ribbon dog, as Sly liked to call her.

"You think all artists are like that?" Squirt wondered aloud.

"Maybe it's just fairy types."

Squirt didn't know, he'd never known another fairy type, nor another artist for that matter. Either way, "Definitely not going that route."

"Amen brother."

He still had other options. No sense taking the chance he might turn into a complete lunatic.

"So where to now?"

"Beats me," said Sly. "We're way off the beaten path from my perspective. You in any hurry to be anywhere."

"Nah," there was no rush. It was enough to have escaped from his cousin; so long as she didn't catch up to them, he didn't much care where they were going.

And as far as places to just meander through went, the countryside beyond his cousin's house was quite a sight. Idyllic fields and forests stretched as far as the eye could see. Beautiful beds of flowers lined the road in delightful diversities of color. Picturesque, the kind of place an artist would go to find themselves, then wind up getting lost.

Might explain why Satiné lived out there in the first place.

The two aimlessly wandered down the road, enjoying the sunshine and reveling in their freedom. It was getting toward lunch when they stopped near a small river to rest. The water was crystal clear, quietly babbling in a way usually reserved for brooks. The small hill provided a perfect place to lay and stare at the bright blue sky, so they decided to take advantage.

"Almost makes you want to try that whole, art thing," said Sly, happily reclined on the hill, listening to the river burble like a happy baby.

"Too soon man, too soon."

The two of them laughed, putting their traumatic experience behind, the beauty of nature a balm to their tormented souls. It seemed almost surreal, too lovely to really exist. The windmill in the distance only added to the scene; quaint, the perfect portrait.

The warmth of the sun soaked into them, hanging a blanket of lethargy. It seemed imminent that they would fall asleep, if only that giggling shadow hadn't floated by.

"Huh, whuzat?"

Overhead, a large flower hovered. There was no wind, not even a breeze, no reason at all the flower should have been hanging there; and since flowers did not traditionally giggle, there was even less reason for it to be doing that.

"What am I looking at?" Squirt wondered aloud, staring at the bewildering sight.

The flower found his question amusing, and tilted down so she could see him properly, "Hello."

"Oh, uh hello," Squirt replied to the tiny white thing sitting on the large blue flower. "Uh, who are you?"

"Marinette," she said, bowing with her flower, and very nearly falling off.

Squirt chuckled and Marinette giggled in turn, "I'm Squirt, and this is Sylvester, we just call him Sly."

The Tyrogue gave no reply; not hearing or just not caring enough to make remark.

"He is a very good sleeper," the little flower fairy remarked.

"Slyyyyyy. Wake uuuuuup!"

The Tyrogue grumbled a bit, scrunched his face, wiggled his nose, and that was all.

"Of good grief!"

Marinette tittered and floated her flower just over the sleeping fighter. Blowing against its petals, a dozen tiny ones flaked off, floating down to land on his face. One, landing right over his nose, seemed to garner his unconscious attention.

Twitch, twitch, blow. Float, float, float. Twitch, twitch… twitch, blow.

Squirt snickered as his oblivious friend battled with the flower petal that just kept coming back. Its persistence paid off when Sly took a deep breath and sucked the petal in through his nose. That woke him up.

"Bleheck! Heck! Hack! Ble…eheh! Why do I taste smell?"

The laughing from his friend and the unidentified flower did not answer his question, and he eyed the newcomer suspiciously.

"What is this supposed to be?"

"I am Flabébé," she said, "my name is Marinette."

"Are you a fairy?"

"Yes!"

"Hrmm!" He eyed her suspiciously, like one might a Seviper or Ekans.

"Oh, come on Sly."

"Frilly ribbon dogs are the worst," he said. "But how do we know floaty flower fairies are any better?"

"Frilly ribbon dogs?"

"My cousin, she's a Sylveon."

"And an artist," Sly added disdainfully. "Are you an artist?"

"No."

"Hmm, still don't trust you."

"Aw!" Not about to settle for such, she attacked remorselessly.

"Don't you give me those Baby Doll Eyes. That isn't going to work on me… I said that's not going to work on me. Hey, come on enough already. Cut it out, hey, I'm warning you. STOP!"

Snickering as his friend cowered under the concentrated cuteness, he was distracted by a trio of circling shadows. The large flowers made him think they must be Marinette's friends. The one carrying her flower was quick to disabuse him of that notion.

"Well, well, well if it isn't little Marinette," said the Floette with the yellow flower.

"Chloe," there was a subtle curse in how she said the name, a glowering expression marring the face that was never intended for such expressions. "What do you want?"

"Nothing from you," she said derisively, laughing in a mocking fashion which her two tagalongs quickly joined.

Squirt and Sly had no idea what was going on, and no connection to either party. That didn't stop them from immediately siding with the lone Flabébé against the trio of bullies.

"Why don't you just move along," said Sly, leveling a penetrating stare at the fairy trio.

"Oh, look girls, Marinette has got herself a little boyfriend," they tittered wickedly. "I know you're so desperate darling, but you could try to have some standards. I mean really."

The lone Flabébé fought back tears, while the cutting remarks added pieces to the puzzle which Squirt was quick to put together. Sly on the other hand was unconcerned with such complex thoughts, and simply wondered who he should punch first.

"I know girls, why don't we save little Marinette from herself," said the Floette looking wickedly at Sly. "It is for her own good."

"Hey, you leave him alone," cried Marinette, interposing herself between Chloe and Sly.

The Floette's face grew sinister, "Oh really, must you be difficult about this."

Raising her flower, she blasted Marinette with a golden Petal storm. It wasn't very effective, but it did serve to intimidate the smaller fairy, blowing her back a few inches. "I… I won't let you," she said with more defiance than she really felt.

Chloe tsked at the lesser fairy, "This really is for your own good you know."

With startling speed, the Floette rushed Marinette. Froze with indecision, it looked like the attack would connect.

"MACH PUNCH!"

Till a much faster attack intercepted it and sent Chloe reeling into the ground. Sly stood, fist outstretched, glaring at the two Flabébé who stared, dumbfounded.

"Who's next."

For a moment it looked like they would cut and run, but an angry exclamation from their leader changed their minds, "Get him you ninny wits."

Uncertainly the two Flabébé moved to attack. One tried a Petal storm, but Marinette countered the attack on Sly with a Razor Leaf attack. When the one on the orange flower tried to flank them, Squirt leapt up, grabbed hold of her flower and spun her around before chucking her like a frisbee.

"YeeeEeeeeEeeee!"

"Nice to meet you!" Squirt called after the receding fairy.

Fuming furiously, Chloe brushed past her remaining subordinate, "Why you, I'll show you!" she growled.

"No, I'll show you," Marinette fired back, tossing a barrage of Razor leaf which had the larger fairy hastily ducking.

"Hey! You can't do that!"

"Wanna bet!" Growing a vine out the bottom of her flower, she lashed the Vine whip at the Floette who used her flower as a shield from the attack, backpedaling furiously right through her subordinate who toppled into the river and floated away downstream.

"I… I'm warning you. You're gonna regret this!"

"The only thing I regret is letting you push me around for so long," shouted Marinette. Rushing forward the little Flabébé tackled the Floette, knocking her to the ground for the second time. That was enough for Chloe.

"I won't forget this! You hear me!"

Picking up her fallen flower, the Floette floated away as fast as she could, never looking back to see the triumphant smile on her opponent's face.

"Well, that was pretty easy," said Squirt, trotting up happily.

"Eh, hardly worth the effort," said Sly coolly.

Marinette smiled at the two boys, opened her mouth, then paused. "I feel funny."

A brilliant glow surrounded the little fairy, and when it cleared, a slightly bigger fairy held a blue flower over her shoulder. Her smile could have lit the darkest cave.

"Well how bout that," said Sly, trying not so sound impressed.

"Congratulations Marinette," said Squirt, still refusing to change his mind on the fairy evolution.

The fairy girl beamed, "Best, day, ever!"


	36. JMT - It's metal brah

Just My Type  
It's Metal brah

…

"Ah, nothing like the big city!"

"Yeah, great."

"So why are we here?"

We, being Squirt, Sly, and their new friend, Marinette.

"My favorite band is giving a concert and I wanted to check it out," said the Floette.

"I got a better question," whispered Sly, "why are 'we' here?" we being just Sly and Squirt.

Squirt didn't have a good answer to that. He'd been there of course, for the fight, the evolution; he remembered it all. But for some reason her excuse for coming along with them was strangely vague in his mind. He suspected there'd been liberal use of Baby doll eyes, to the point it had messed with his brain, but that was just speculation.

"So, what band is this you wanted to see?" the Eevee asked.

"POWER VULPIX!" she roared as gouts of fire exploded behind her, and then were gone. "I've been following them for years. Their so metal."

"Metal? You're into metal?" Sly said, his incredulity barely contained.

"Well sure, what kind of music did you think I'd be into?"

Sly made a vague noise, shrugging at the question. He hadn't thought about it, but if he had, he never would have considered metal.

"When is this concert anyway?"

"Not till tonight."

"So, what are we supposed to do till then?"

"LEARN IRON TAIL!"

The trio leapt at the shouted suggestion; the Nidoking standing outside a smallish establishment, roaring for attention and gathering a small crowd of onlookers hardly seemed to notice. He got that reaction all the time.

"What's this about?" wondered Sly, picking himself up off the ground.

"Some sort of training seminar looks like," said Marinette, examining the sign which indicated the establishment was a gym.

"Think it's worth checking out?"

"Squirt thinks so," she said, pointing at their tiny companion who'd already joined the crowd.

"Gather round, gather round. If you've been hoping to up your battle, now's the time. Today only, we will be teaching the secrets of, IRON TAIL!" The crowd oo'd and ah'd as the massive mon flexed his tail. Sly, watching from a distance, rolled his eyes.

"Who among you thinks their mon enough to face this grueling challenge; the gut wrenching, bone breaking training necessary, to learn this amazing technique?"

They were less enthusiastic about that. Learning Iron tail sounded great, but gut wrenching and bone breaking, not so much. The whole crowd murmured quietly but none had the guts to step forward, until, "I do!" shouted Squirt, squirming his way to the front of the crowd.

"YOU!" the big mon roared, picking the little mon up by the tail. "You think your mon enough to learn Iron tail pipsqueak?"

"Yes!" he shouted, squirming diligently but fruitlessly in the bigger mon's grasp.

The Nidoking gave a blank stare then burst out laughing, "I like your spirit kid. Hey Joey, we got us a spunky one. Comin your way!" he shouted, balling the Eevee up and hurling him through the door.

Skidding across the floor he came to a halt in the shadow of a towering form with stone gray skin and a single massive horn. "Yo!" greeted the Rhydon.

"Hi!" Squirt said with reserved excitement.

"So, you think your gonna learn Iron tail?" Squirt nodded in the affirmative. "Well not just anyone can learn Iron tail. It's gonna take heart, guts, and a will of pure steel. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready."

"Aw what was that. I said, ARE YOU READY!"

"I'M Ready!" Squirt shouted.

"You can do better than that. ARE! YOU! READY!"

"I'M READY!" he cried. "I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready! I'M READY!"

The Rhydon laughed as his student pranced around excitedly, "Your aura is super yellow right now bro. I love it! Let's get started."

Meanwhile, still standing outside, his two friends gaped. Well, it was mostly Marinette, Sly was already over it. "So, whatcha wanna do now," he said, idly turning and walking away.

"What! Aren't we gonna wait for him?" asked the frantic fairy.

"Nah. Who knows how long that'll be," said Sly dismissively. "Besides, he's a big boy."

"No he's not."

"He'll catch up when he's done. He knows where we'll be."

"No he doesn't."

Despite her protestation, Sly continued down the street unconcerned. He wasn't just acting aloof; he really wasn't worried about his friend. They'd been through enough together just on this one trip that he was confident Squirt could take care of himself. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?

If he listened to the fretting fairy, everything from a stray meteor to the earth just randomly opening up and swallowing him whole. Wow! "Someone's got a paranoid streak," he mumbled as she continued to ramble on and on about all the horrible things that might happen to the little Eevee.

"And then, all his fur would fall out, and, and… OO, coffee!"

Sly halted at the sudden shift in conversation and watched the crazy flower fairy float toward the café they'd been passing. "Sure, why not." If it got her to relax.

What started with a coffee turned into a whole spree of window shopping, or from Sly's perspective, the slowest walk he'd ever taken. Marinette happily popped from window to window admiring all the pretty things exhibited and chattering away nonstop about all of it, and more. If he hadn't been toning her out it probably would have driven him insane.

Those that knew him would argue you can't be driven where you already are, but Squirt wasn't there, so…

As evening approached and the sun began to dip, their circuitous route took them toward the stadium at which POWER VULPIX would be performing. Marinette hummed something metal as they went, her mood almost unrecognizable from earlier. Sly wasn't sure if he should chalk it up to her being a girl, all of which were crazy, or a fairy, which he had less experience with but was beginning to suspect were very similar to girls.

Rounding a corner, they were halted by the appearance of three big rock mon. A pair of Graveler and an Onyx with a leather jacket draped across his back stood astride their path, like they'd been waiting for them. Unusual since neither recognized any of them.

"Ello, ello," said the Onyx, "and where might you lot be off to."

Seeing no reason to answer, Sly was ready to fire off a sarcastic remark when Marinette excitedly exclaimed, "We're going to see POWER VULPIX!" Roar, fireworks and all that jazz.

"Power Vulpix?" Marinette nodded, missing the derisive tone in the Graveler's voice.

"Uh huh!" she said excitedly. "They're my favorite band." Excitement making her oblivious to the mood, she was shocked when the trio of rock Pokémon started laughing. "Did I say something funny?"

"Yeah!" shouted the Onyx between guffaw's, "Power Vulpix!"

Excitement dimming, "And why is that funny?"

"Because metal sucks!"

The fairy gasped, "Blasphemy!"

"No, he's right," said the other Graveler, "metal's for sissy's and fairies. Real mon listen to ROCK!"

"ROCK!" the other two roared in unison.

Marinette glared at the roaring rock mon. It wasn't in her nature to be combative, but such a statement could not be left unchallenged. "Rock just wishes it could be metal," she sniped, silencing the roaring trio who glared at the tiny fairy.

"You wanna say that again, pipsqueak!" the Onyx growled.

She most certainly did not, but her metal passion refused to let her back down, "Rock, is, for, posers."

The silence became a tangible thing, the space between the massive rock snake and the tiny flower fairy bent like cheap steel under the heat of their combined stare. The gauntlet had been thrown. They'd find it later.

The Onyx glowered, his coat flapping like a cape in a sarcastic breeze. Rising so he could look down at the tiny fairy, "You got some nerve half pint. I think we're gonna have to teach you a lesson."

She put on her bravest face; it had a little star painted on the right cheek, but inside she was quailing. She wasn't a fighter. It wasn't in her nature. It was the reason Chloe had been able to bully her for so long and get away with it. Now what was she supposed to do. Her metal passion had got the better of her and she'd bitten off more than she could chew. She stared back defiant, trying not to shake as the three rock mon closed in.

"ICE PUNCH!"

A Graveler squealed as the frozen fist slammed into it, encasing the rolling boulder in a thick block of ice. Mood properly broken, everyone stared at Sly who dusted his hands off and turned them an apathetic look. "Sorry, I was getting bored, needed to punch something."

His look of boredom turned into a smirk as the fuming Onyx boiled over. "Raaaagh! Miserable punk!" he shouted and lunged at the scrappy fighter.

"Yeah! Lousy punk I, Yeek!" The Graveler squealed as the Vine whip snapped viciously across his hide.

"Heathen," cried Marinette. Emboldened by the assistance, the tiny fairy wielded her flower and its half dozen whips at the nonfrozen Graveler, "Bow at the shrine of METAL! I said BOW!"

"Yipe!"

"Come on slow poke, is that all ya got!" Sly's taunt was super effective, and the rock snake went thrashing after him in barely coherent fury.

"Gonna rip you apart!" he roared, lunging at the small fighter and missing when he executed a perfectly timed leap which turned into a vicious Stomp on the rock snakes head.

Not through, he used his position to drop a painful Mega kick that sent the Onyx reeling back, crashing into his frozen subordinate. The Graveler rolled free, dazed but conscious; it charged sluggishly at the Tyrogue. Sly dodged the attack but the Graveler wasn't done, turning the evaded rush into a Rollout he came back strong. Sly saw the attack and retreated, backflipping over the roll and putting both his opponents in front of him.

"Not so tough now are ya smart guy!" the Onyx taunted, but to no avail.

"Actually, I was just thinking you should go get some friends, make this a little more even."

Sly chuckled at how easily they were baited. The Graveler tore a piece off a nearby wall and hurled it at him in a sort of crude Rock throw. Timing his punch just right he executed a textbook Brick break before taking the fight to them.

He dodged over the Onyx and went after the Graveler. A Defense curl minimized the damage of his opening Triple kick but served to make his Seismic toss that much easier. Grabbing it by the spiky protrusions Sly hurled the roundish rock mon at the stone snake, intercepting its next attack.

Laughing at the thrill of battle he was caught off guard when the Onyx tail lashed out blindly, taking him in the midsection and hurling him into the wall. Air evacuated from his lungs he gasped to refill. "Need… to work… on defense," he wheezed.

"Ha! Now I got ya!"

Sly doubted that. The rock snake was moving slower than when the fight started and the Graveler was doing its best 'help I'm a Squirtle and I can't get up'. Even gasping for air, Sly was confident he could carry the day. Fortunately for his aching ribs, he wouldn't have to.

Totally focused on Sly, the Onyx never even saw what hit him, but hit him it did, with iron force. The big rock snake dropped like, well, a rock; eye swirlies and a weak moan signaling his defeat.

"Boss!"

Escaping the wrath of the flower fairy the one Graveler helped the other to right itself before the two of them grabbed hold of the Onyx. "You'll regret this," one of them shouted.

"Rock forever!" cried the other. "Rock and Roooooooooll!"

Spinning like wheels the rolling rock mon vanished down the street, dragging the unconscious rock snake with them.

"Well, that was horribly unnecessary," said Marinette.

"Meh," said Sly, rubbing his ribs. "Bout time you caught up."

Squirt turned to look at his friend, "Well if ya'd waited. The DVD was only thirty minutes."

"And I see it worked."

Squirt grinned, "I learned Iron tail. I learned Iron tail." He was happy with his accomplishment. The prancing was probably unnecessary though. "So, who were those guys?"

"Beats me," said Sly.

Marinette shook her head, "Rock punks," she said dismissively. "They're not important. Come on. The concert should be starting soon. POWER VULPIX!" she roared, fireworks and all the rest.


	37. JMT - Doom

Just My Type  
Doom. DOOOOOOOOOM!

…

"Yes, I see. Oh dear, that's not good."

"What is it? What is it!"

"I see, yes. Oh, not good. No, no, no not good at all."

"WHAT IS IT! Am I going to die? I'm going to die, aren't I? I knew it, my horoscope said this was a bad day to travel."

"Oh dear."

"What! Is the sky falling? The end of days. WHAT! Tell me dammit!"

The Abra looked up from his crystal ball and spoke a single word, "Doom."

…

"What a crock!" exclaimed Sly as the trio strolled down the road. "I don't care if he does have Future sight. That was such a load of bologna."

Squirt silently agreed with his feisty friend, but it didn't seem prudent to do so out loud; his new friend clearly felt very differently. Either that or she was just prone to shivering and paranoid glancing.

"Doom. Doom," she whispered the chant.

"You are not seriously buying this," Sly demanded, quickly losing patience with her neurotic behavior.

"Doom he said," she cried. "Do you know what that means?"

"He has a sick sense of humor and a limited vocabulary."

Squirt snickered but Marinette was positively scandalized, "How can you say that. He was psychic."

"Pfff, psychic. You know Abra sleep for like twenty-three hours every day. Their practically little Snorlax."

"WHA… bu… graaaah! I cannot believe what I am hearing. We're living under the umbrella of DOOM, and you're making jokes."

"What can I say, I laugh in the face of doom. Ha ha ha." It should be noted, Doom does not appreciate that sort of thing.

Their new fairy friend appeared to put a lot of stock in prognosticators, unlike Sly who was very much a forge your own path sort of mon. Squirt hung back and let the two of them argue. It wouldn't help if he took a side and he had no strong feelings on the matter anyway.

He'd always admired Sly's determination to make his own way, and he wasn't even sure he believed in things like destiny. If he did have a destiny then his whole quest to find himself was an utter waste of time, unless it was his destiny to go on that journey and by doing so accomplish what he thought he should be, because he was destined to.

It wasn't just an existential dilemma; it was damn confusing as well. Better to let more entrenched individuals battle it out and see who won. All things could be decided through battle.

"You're crazy."

"Who are you calling crazy!"

Silly and pointless as it may be.

…

"Oh for cryin out loud, would you stop shivering," Sly complained that night as they sat around the campfire.

The battle, undecided, had served to distract Marinette from her looming sense of dread. Now that they weren't fighting anymore, she was back to fretting. "Doom."

"Is she going to do this all night?"

"Doom."

Squirt sighed, "Sure looks like it."

Even with sisters and female cousin's, Squirt had no idea how to approach the delicate female fairy. He'd seen neurotic behavior before. Ember could be incredibly bad sometimes to the point of smothering, but this was a whole other level.

"Marinette, you really need to calm down," said Squirt, knowing not what else to do.

"Doom," she moaned.

Lacking the patience, or experience with the opposite sex that Squirt had, Sly did the only thing that made sense, that didn't involve him punching something. He grabbed the little fairy, and her flower, and held her close. She stared at him in utter shock.

"If I promise I won't let the 'doom' get you, will you stop shivering?"

She already had, frozen, pressed against his strong chest by his powerful arm, a light blush began to tint her cheeks. The moment was broken by a great ruckus from somewhere deep in the forest.

"Now what?"

With a squeak and a whimper, her face was buried as far into his chest as she could get it.

"Sounds like someone's busy," said Squirt, turning his ears toward the low rumbling racket.

"Doom," a tiny voice moaned.

Sly just sighed, holding the little fairy close, as if he needed to, with her making every effort to crawl into his ribcage. "I have a feeling this is gonna be a very long night."

"Now who's psychic," said Squirt with a mischievous grin.

…

"Uuuuuuugh!"

Morning came, slow, arduous, agonizing. After a night of rumbling, roaring, whimpering and moaning, the sun was a barely welcome sight as it shone into tired eyes, hung with heavy black bags. Too late and too soon the day began, and the trio trudged down the road with zombie like enthusiasm.

"Uuuuuuugh," to say the least. "If I ever find the guy who was making all that noise last night."

He left the threat unfinished, too tired to be creative. Marinette gently bobbed her agreement. Too tired herself to either shiver or moan the word 'doom'. Of the three of them, the only one not bone tired was Squirt. Having not been obsessing over 'doom' nor kept up all night holding the one obsessing over 'doom', he'd managed to get a few hours of sleep.

The noise had been an issue but, despite being less floofy than his sister, he was still possessed of a sort of fur that made for half descent earplugs. It required a bit of scrunching and it didn't work perfectly, but it was enough. He yawned, stretched the kinks, but was otherwise functional, unlike his companions who probably wouldn't have noticed if a train suddenly went by.

Lucky for them, it wasn't a train, but a massive pile of rocks sitting in the middle of the road.

"Whazat?" Sly slurred drunkenly.

"Rocks," said Marinette, almost falling out of the air for a startled second.

"Seems like a dumb place to leave a big pile of rocks," Squirt opined.

"Who you callin dumb?" the rockpile demanded.

Adrenaline flowed, turning zombies into barely cognizant mon as the rockpile uncoiled into a familiar looking Onyx and his two rolling boulders.

"You again," said Sly tersely, causing the Onyx to smirk. The smirk faded when Sly crossed his eyes in concentration before, "Who are you again?"

"The name's Rock!" the Onyx roared.

Squirt snickered, "An Onyx named Rock, how original. Was Stone already taken."

The Onyx glared at Squirt, then at his minions who were chuckling at the joke. "Oh, you're gonna pay for that you little squirt."

"Who told you my name!"

The Onyx goggled in confusion, "Your name, is Squirt?"

"Yep."

Grrrrr! "And you made fun of my name!"

"Yep."

He tried not to laugh at how easily riled the Onyx was as the three bullies were obviously looking for a fight; why else would they be out there? Even Sly with his brain moving at the speed of snail seemed to grasp this.

"You jerks really wanna do this again? Wasn't one beating enough?"

The Onyx seemed to find his cool again, smirking at the barely standing Tyrogue, "Last time you surprised us," he said, smirk widening. "Last time you were better rested."

Sly stared at the rock snake, knowing the statement should mean something but unable to comprehend what. Squirt was operating under no such handicap.

"That was you last night!" he accused.

"Yep," the rock mon replied smugly.

"Is that so," a bit of life entered the exhausted Tyrogue as he at last had something worth focusing on. "What was I saying I was going to do if I found the guy who kept me up all night?"

"You never got that far," said Squirt, "but I'm sure it involved a lot of punching," he added.

"Sounds right to me." Shooting forward he made a Beedrill line for the Onyx, fist cocked, ready to strike. He hadn't gotten within a few feet when he slammed headlong into an invisible wall, coming to an abrupt and painful halt.

"Bwahahahahahah!" the Onyx roared. "That, was so worth it."

Sly dejectedly dropped when the wall vanished, barely struggling despite an overwhelming urge to pummel the rock snake who continued to laugh. Not wanting to be left out the two Graveler approached Sly and began kicking him, laughing as they did so.

"Hey!"

"Leave him alone!"

The two rushed to help but their advance stopped when an irresistible force grabbed them both and held them fast.

"What… what's going on."

"I can't move."

"Heh, heh, that's right," said the Onyx with a superior look. "We weren't taking any chances with you lot this time, so we brought some help."

Right on cue, a small mon teleported into sight; Squirt had already suspected. The barrier had been a clue and suddenly being gripped by an invisible force. He knew psychic moves when he saw them. Amore knew both those tricks, so it was no surprise when the Abra appeared, at least not to him. The same could not be said for Marinette.

"YOU!" she screeched with more energy than she'd had all morning.

The little mon flinched, "Must you be so loud?" he griped.

It wasn't just any Abra, floating before them, holding them against their will. It was the same Abra that had set Marinette off on in the first place. What a jerk.

"Thanks to our little buddy here, it was easy keeping you up all night. She did half the work for us," the Onyx cackled at Marinette who blushed in humiliation. "Now that we got ya, the fun can begin."

Fun did not sound so fun when he said it; sounded more like pain. Sly was still laying on the ground being kicked but he could take it. He was tough. Squirt wasn't so sure how tough 'he' was, and knew Marinette was anything but. He needed to do something before the menacingly advancing Onyx got to them.

He frowned in concentration, trying to think back on all his interactions with his psychic cousin for anything that might help. Coming up completely empty, he stared hard at the Abra who was paying him little mind as Marinette glared furiously at the one who tricked her. He seemed to wilt under the glare. Or was it the glare?

He hadn't noticed before but there were black bags under the psychic's eyes. They sleep for like twenty-three hours every day, Sly had said. And he'd flinched when Marinette had yelled at him. If he were with the rock punks, how well could he have slept last night?

An idea began forming, a devious idea. Sombra would have been so proud.

Giving a little whistle to find his pitch and get the Abra's attention, "Lullaby, and good night, go to sleep little Abra," he sang.

"What the…" said Rock, stalling at the sudden absurdity.

Squirt ignored him and kept singing. he wasn't especially good, it wasn't a sing attack after all, but he could already see his target wilting, so he knew it was working. Rock noticed it too.

"Hey! What are you doing? Don't fall asleep now," he barked, but the Abra didn't seem to hear him.

He had almost finished a second go round of the song when the force holding him released and the Abra fell snoring to the ground.

"Looks like someone stayed up too late last night." Now it was Squirt's turn to smirk as he stared down the much larger mon.

The Onyx growled, "Doesn't matter. I'm still gonna wreck yo… YEOWCH!" he exclaimed when a green vine lashed him angrily.

Marinette glared, enraged beyond exhaustion, "YOU!" she bellowed frightfully. "YOOOOOOU!"

Angry beyond words, the tiny fairy proceeded to whip the big rock snake with rapid viciousness. Too slow to counter, Rock retreated as fast as his massive body would allow. "Yeowch! Ow! Stop it! Oh! You two stop kicking that Tyrogue and help me. Yeowch!"

The Graveler moved to obey but didn't get more than two steps when a hand reached out and grabbed one by the leg. The Graveler stared dumbly at the Tyrogue attached to his lower appendage. The look remained on his face till the foot wiped it off in three rapid hits.

With remarkable strength, the flinching Graveler was lifted and hurled at the other, sending the both of them toppling into the Onyx.

"I'll teach you to trifle with a maiden's faith," Marinette screamed, recoiling her Vine whip and blasting them with a barrage of Razor leaf that lifted them into the air and sent them flying into the distance.

"Well, there they go," observed Squirt.

"Some people really don't know when to give it up," said Sly, casually approaching the unconscious Abra. "And as for you."

He reeled back to give the Abra a good strong kick, but as soon as he went to deliver it, the Abra vanished, leaving him to flip over backward twice before landing on his butt with a look of confusion on his face. Squirt tried not to snicker. Tried.

Without a threat to focus on, Sly was back to not comprehending and sat there staring stupidly while Squirt snickered. Marinette on the other hand was fully cognizant again and still very upset.

"Can't believe, of all the nerve. Unacceptable, just unacceptable."

"What are you on about?" asked Sly, who'd given up on figuring out why he was sitting on the ground.

"That Abra! It's just intolerable."

"So he was a liar, so what?" He'd said the guy was full of it, hadn't he?

"You don't understand." Obviously. "When a lady puts her trust into something, she expects it not to be betrayed. Especially a fortune teller."

Sounded stupid to the two men listening, but then they weren't ladies.

"Could've been worse," Squirt reasoned, already feeling better now that the situation had been resolved.

"That's not the point," she insisted. "Everything I went through yesterday was for no good reason. The worrying, the shivering. All for nothing. All that noise, trying to hide in Sly's chest, being held in his strong arms, I, um…" she tapered off as her cheeks filled with color. "I, uh, I guess that last part wasn't so bad."

"Huh," said Sly, who'd nodded off and missed the last bit.

"It's nothing Sly," said Squirt with a chuckle. "Nothing at all."


	38. JMT - The great white

Just My Type  
The great white HOLY BALLS IT'S COLD

…

"This was a stupid idea. We never should have agreed to this."

"Oh don't be such a baby."

"I'm COLD!"

There were very few reasons to go so far north the land turned to ice. Being an ice type was one of them. Aspiring to be an ice type was another. Being too stupid to know which direction you were going was also a viable excuse, but not typically one you'd want to brag about.

The great white north certainly lived up to its name. It was white, white for as far as the eye could see. White and cold; cold enough to freeze your butt off, metaphorically speaking, probably.

"Why did we have to come all the way up here?" Marinette whined as she did her best to bury herself in the furry, woolen jacket.

"Training," declared Sly, dragging the sled along like a faithful mush dog and only panting slightly.

"We just have to get the package to the Delibird depot," said Squirt, sitting in the sled ahead of the fairy. "I'm sure they'll have a nice big fire where you can warm up."

Their trip across the tundra was a favor to someone they'd met two weeks prior. He'd sent off a whole load of packages, only to find he'd missed one and had no one left to deliver it. Squirt, Sly and Marinette had just finished beating the Rock punks, for the seventh time, and seeing how hardy they looked, he'd asked them for assistance.

Squirt had been a little hesitant, but his helpful nature won out in the end. Sly was ambivalent, he could train anywhere, and Marinette had smiled and gone along without complaint. That was until they'd gotten out onto the tundra, then she complained. In fact, she'd done little else but complain, complain and shiver.

Squirt wasn't too bothered by the cold; his fur was thick enough to keep him warm and it wasn't 'that' cold. If not for the wind he would have hardly noticed.

"How much farther is it," he asked absently, as they passed another mile marker.

"Bout ten miles according to the map," Sly said after briefly consulting their direction paper, while still running.

"Mush faster," Marinette whined, burrowing further into the coat so that only her flower was visible.

The two boys shook their heads. "You know I think that magic ice stone is around here somewhere," Squirt commented. "Think we've got time for a detour."

"Don't you dare," shouted a voice from under the flower.

Sly chuckled at his friends teasing. "How you think the terrible trio are holding up to this?"

"Probably about as well as she is," said Squirt of the shivering flower sitting behind him.

…

This was untrue, the Rock punks were actually doing worse than the fragile fairy. Being the type they were, they had an inherent weakness to the cold. The only way it could have been worse is if there had been a blizzard.

"Are we sure this is the right way Rock," groveled one of the Graveler.

"Of course I'm sure," he lied, sliding along with measured slowness over the freezing ground. He'd already broken through the ice once; he didn't need to do it again. And on that note, why did the ice over the water have to look exactly the same as the ice on land? False advertising, that's what it was.

"Why are we doing this Rock!" the other Graveler whined.

Rock didn't deign to answer. It wasn't a very good answer anyway. Because I said so was all he'd said the last time. He wasn't about to admit it was the fairy he was after, stupid metal loving moron. Rock just wishes it could be metal, peh! What did she know anyway!

"Gonna find that stupid fairy and…" he broke off into indistinct grumbles as he detailed in his head all the mean, nasty, and just downright unkind things he planned to do.

"Hey guys, what's that?"

Broken from his musings, Rock looked up to see a strange figure approached from a distance. It walked in a bipedal fashion, though no legs were clearly visible. The bottom half was red, while a yellow mop sat atop something black that was likely the head.

"Must be some kind of ice type," assumed Rock, unable to discern the nature of the figure and just making the most logical assumption. No one could say he wasn't smarter than a box of rocks.

The trio waited as the figure approached, details clarifying as it neared. No legs but a sort of dress like form and big red lips stood out against the black face under tentacle like yellow hair.

"Shit, it's a Jinx," said one Graveler.

"Well that's not a very nice thing to say," said the other Graveler, "we haven't even met her yet."

Rock rolled his eyes and continued to watch the Jinx approach. It was a long shot but maybe the ice Pokémon could point them in the direction of their quarry.

Strolling up to them, the Jinx gave the three of them the once over, then, quite deliberately, threw a Leer their direction. "Hello boys," she said in the voice of someone who'd smoked three packs a day since they were born.

The salacious look combined with the off-putting manner of address sent a chill through the three rock Pokémon that had nothing to do with the cold. "Uh, hi," said Rock.

"Now what are you three big, strong gentlemen doing out here?" the croaking Jinx inquired.

"We're looking for someone," said Rock, jumping at the chance to gather his information and be on their way.

The Jinx batted her eyelashes and shook her hips, "Lose your girlfriend big boy?"

Fighting back revulsion, "Not exactly."

"So your single?" the Jinx followed up without missing a beat.

Fully disgusted and not nearly desperate enough to continue tolerating the unwanted advances, Rock put his foot, uh, tail down. "Hard pass!" he shouted.

"Yeah!"

"What he said!"

The Jinx salacious look went cold, "Is that so." Sucking in a great breath of air the Jinx expelled an Icy wind. Squealing like little girls the rock mon cowered against the frozen assault.

"COLD!" they shrieked.

The Icy wind dragged on longer than should have been possible. So long Rock got tired of cowering and flung his body in a crude Rock throw that knocked the Jinx on her butt.

"Alright, enough of this. Get her boys!"

The Graveler shakily advanced only to halt at what they saw, "Which one?"

In their moment of hesitation, the Jinx had performed a Double team and was now a whole line of Jinx, winking, wiggling, and just being all round repulsive.

"Just pick one," said Rock, picking up one of them in his mouth and flinging it at the nearest Jinx. The big rock passed through the image which made the other's titter, a strange sound from a voice box that sounded like it had gargled gravel.

"Oh boys. Always throwing themselves at me," she teased, which made them all sick.

"Get that freak!" he shrieked, lunging forward and plowing through a half dozen doppelganger's and, subsequently, the real one.

The Jinx bounced twice before regaining her feet and glaring at the rock snake, "Well! If that's how you're going to be!"

Eyes glowing the Jinx rose into the air. A deep rumble shook the ground, and a long shadow fell across the rock trio as a whole mountain of snow rose up in a towering wave. Staring up at the wickedly smirking Jinx, Rock had but one thought.

"Oh pokéballs!"

…

"Thanks for getting this up here, we really appreciate it."

"No problem," said Squirt, happily handing off his package to the manager of the Delibird depot. "And thanks for the cocoa. I know Marinette appreciates it, even if she doesn't say so."

The Delibird manager chuckled, "Don't worry. We're used to it," he said.

Squirt figured he must be right, since none of the Delibird had so much as batted an eye when they'd arrived and Marinette had started demanding, "WARMTH!"

"And you're sure your good to deliver that other thing then?"

Squirt chuckled a little but assured the manager they'd be fine. Sly had set them up for a southbound trip shortly after they'd arrived. Apparently, he'd heard about a tournament from one of the Delibird workers who was set to deliver the first prize, a special evolution stone.

Sly wasn't interested in the stone, but the tournament, that was different. Squirt wasn't sure how, but he'd talked the Delibird into letting them make the delivery, as it would give them an excuse to go that way. Not like Squirt thought they needed an excuse, but he knew better than to try and reason with his friend when he'd made up his mind.

"Ready musher," Sly shouted from his place in the sled.

"I'm ready!" Squirt replied; it was his turn to pull the sled.

"Yes, fine, wonderful, just mush already!" cried the freezing fairy.

With a grunt and a tug, they were off, careening across the tundra yet again. "You know, I'm really gonna miss the view out here," said Sly.

Squirt snickered as Marinette glared from her furry burrow, "You are so full of it."

Her sour tone caused them both to laugh but it only slowed the sled for a moment. "So, tournament time," said Squirt as he pulled the sled. "Any special kind?"

"Nope," said Sly. "All open. No type spec."

"Really? That's kinda odd isn't it." Most tournaments had to be specific to some degree, otherwise you'd have high level fully evolved mon blasting through weaker ones for days.

"Na, it's a local thing. Small time. Just getting enough competitors is hard enough without limiting it."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Squirt. "Good morning," he greeted a passing Jinx.

The Jinx didn't so much as look in his direction as she stomped past in a huff.

"Geez, what was her problem?" wondered Sly.

"Beats me."

"I bet it's the weather," said Marinette.

"She was an ice type," Sly countered.

"Inherent personality defect then."

"Oh, good grief." Charlie Brown you are my patron saint.

"Hey, look at that!"

Marinette briefly poked her head out of the coat as Sly turned to look at the huge hill of snow.

"Don't remember that being here," he said.

"See, I told you. It's freezing your brain," she said, disappearing back into her coat.

Sly shook his head and pondered for a moment. Failing at that, he turned to Squirt, "Mush faster. She's no fun like this."

"Aye sir!" he shouted, and doubled up his pace, never looking back at the suspicious mound of snow, or the angry eyes peering out of it.


	39. JMT - Time to ROCK pt 1

Just My Type  
Time to ROCK part 1

…

There was something about a tournament, like an electric current running through the air and up everyone's backside. An invisible energy you couldn't help but feel when it grabbed hold and shook you like an angry Ursaring. Excitement, anticipation, all the intangibles wrapped up in a package of barely restrained violence.

"Awesome," said Sly as they marched into town with the early morning crowd.

"It looks like a festival," Marinette chirped cheerily, her big wooly coat gone now that they were in 'habitable' climes.

"Who's hungry? I'm hungry!" Squirt exclaimed, vibrating with barley contained excitement. If he were a Voltorb people would probably be running.

"Light breakfast," said Sly. "Never have a big meal before a fight. That's just asking to make a mess."

"Ew!" the feminine fairy expressed, to the amusement of her masculine companions, even the floofy one.

They'd gotten into town just the previous day, in time for them to deliver their package and rush to the registration booth. The receptionist, a Medicham, had been thrilled to see them. "Almost got a full roster this year."

They'd eaten a sizable dinner after their long trek from the northern depot and crashed hard. Waking that morning with the rising thrill of 'tournament' that permeated the whole town. Stopping at a small diner, packed full, they ordered a light breakfast and crammed into a booth, listening to the conversations going on around them.

The words were different from table to table, but the subject was all the same. By the sound of things, the whole town was involved in some form or fashion with the tournament. The diner would be closed after breakfast so the employees could mon the food stands around the grounds.

They'd just begun to eat when the table next to them was cleared, cleaned, then filled again with another trio of patrons, this bunch of a pugnacious variety. The main trio, preoccupied with their meal, barely noticed as the new group sat down. With his back to them, Sly didn't even see them but he could hear them just fine.

"Your sure this tournament is worth it?" he heard one say.

"Any tournament is worth it," said another, older than the first. "And its not like you have that much experience in a real fight."

"I fight!" the first exclaimed, his voice cracking to a higher pitch than he likely intended.

"Yeah, with him, and me. Time to expand your horizons."

"By meeting new people and beating them up," a third voice chimed in.

Sly snorted through his pancakes at the last comment. It sounded like something he'd say. The snort did not go unnoticed. "You got something to say pal!" the first voice demanded.

Calmly laying down his fork, Sly turned to address the demanding voice, coming face to face with a scowling Combusken. Matching the flaming bird fighter, he stared, and stared, and stared. Just when it looked like he couldn't stare anymore, "Blink," and the young Combusken did.

Sly burst out laughing as the fiery fighter grumbled, "Your way to tense bro," said the Tyrogue, genially extending his hand. "Name's Sylvester, Sly to my friends."

The Combusken considered the hand for moment before swallowing his pride and taking it, "Sparks," he replied.

"Hey, don't forget me!" the Mankey bounced up from his seat where he'd been hidden.

"Oh, are you still here?" said Sparks with a poorly feigned indifference that none the less served to infuriate the Mankey.

"One a these days Sparky, one a these days," he threatened, before turning back to Sly. "They call me Swings. How ya do."

Sly accepted the energetic monkey's hand, only then noticing the mon on the other side of the table, a presence which made him gulp. "So, you guys are here for the tournament?"

The two nodded excitedly.

"Him too?"

The Infernape with the walking staff snickered at the Tyrogue's expression. "Don't worry kid. I'm just here to supervise. This kinda tourney's a bit below my level."

"And he just got his butt kicked like a month ago," Sparks 'whispered' not very quietly which earned him a swift whack from the walking staff.

"Nobody likes a smart ass," said the Infernape. "Oh, what have I done to be cursed with such a disrespectful student. What is a teacher to do?" he lamented dramatically.

"Maybe not hit his students with a stick," Swings ventured.

"Yeah! I've never seen a teacher that did that," added Sparks.

"Well clearly they were not doing it right then," their Sensei countered, giving them both a whack to prove his point, whatever it might have been.

Sly snickered, ignoring the sense of longing he felt watching the two students interact with their sensei.

"Hey Sly, we're all done here," Squirt interrupted his musing. "You ready?"

"Just a sec," he said, quickly clearing his plate down his food hole and washing it down with the rest of his juice. "Okay. Been nice meeting you boys. Look forward to kicking your butts later."

Chuckling as they left the two students with their 'responsible' adult, the trio headed for the tournament pavilion; a massive tent filled with bleachers and a single large fighting ring. It wasn't anything special, just dirt and sand marked by a white chalk circle, but it fit. There was nothing fancy about any of it, not the tent, the ring, or the various booths yet being erected outside the tent.

It was all very simple, basic, and homey.

"This is gonna be fun," said Squirt.

"Hell's yeah," agreed Sly.

Dramatic sigh, "Boys," said Marinette with a poorly hidden grin.

Happily making their way to the pavilion, they never notice three pairs of eyes watching them from behind a small house as they passed. Surprisingly stealthy for large stones, the Rock punks slunk back into the shadows.

"There they go."

"You think they know we're here?"

"Course not."

The Rock punks had arrived just before sundown. Just before the registration office closed.

"You sure this plan'll work boss?"

"Course it will. It's a tournament. That means one on one, no interference."

"But I thought we were gonna interfere? That's why Boulder didn't sign up."

Rock groaned at his simple minion, "When I said no interference, I meant against us."

"Oh!"

The Onyx shook his head, holding back his aggravation. They were a couple a rock heads, but they were all he had. "Any other questions? No. Alright, let's go check out that fighting ring."

…

Hours later the tournament was ready to begin; the bleachers had been filled and all the fighters had assembled for the brief opening ceremony.

"AttentIOOOOOOOOOOOON!" screamed their announcer, a Loudred without a microphone. Cuz what would a Loudred need with a microphone. "We welcome you all to our little tournament. We expect to see some good fights today."

The crowd roared their agreement, sending vibrations through the fighters. "You'd think they'd never seen a Pokémon battle before," said Sly.

"Must be a really friendly town," said Squirt.

"I know your all eager to get down to it, so I'll keep this brief," the Loudred shouted. "It's a standard tier fight. We'll be taking a one-hour break before the final eight to give all the fighters a rest, but otherwise its just back to back to back. GOT IT!"

By the sound of their cheers, yeah, they got it.

"THEN LET'S GO!" with barely a flourish he threw back the tarp covering the match tree. "First up, Eevee, vs. Charmeleon!"

"Looks like I'm up!" said Squirt.

"It's all you bro," said Sly, joining the rest of the competitors clearing the ring.

Emptied of all but the two combatants, Squirt shared a look with the grouchy looking Charmeleon. "So, you're my first fight?"

"Yep, sure looks that way," said Squirt with innocent naiveté.

The Charmeleon snorted derisively and his good cheer, "This'll be quick."

"Fighters ready? GO!"

The Charmeleon wasted no time, charging straight for Squirt, a wicked Metal Claw gleaming in his hand. Squirt stood frozen till the last second, dragging his tail as he spun around, throwing sand in the Charmeleon's face as he raised his claw to attack.

The Charmeleon faltered with sand in his eyes and Squirt rolled to the side then zipped back in with a Quick attack. The Charmeleon fought for balance as it blinked to clear its vision, sight returning just in time to see the Thunder Shock before it hit.

"YEARGH!"

It didn't hurt much but it was a surprise and it made his muscles twitch in a way he did not like. "I'll get you for that."

"Think so?"

What followed was a one-sided game of tag in which the agile little Eevee darted around the ring and the ever angrier Charmeleon tried and failed to catch him. "GRRRR! Stand still!"

"Make me!"

Losing his temper, the flame tailed fire lizard opened his mouth and poured a stream of flame. The attack lasted until Squirt tackled him from the side. He knew, better than most, the weakness of the Flamethrower. His sister could do that after all, and she often complained about how she'd lose sight of her target during the attack, so she was always afraid she'd missed.

The Charmeleon had missed, his vision worse than usual and his muscles still spasming had not improved his aim. Staggered but not out, he tried to capitalize on his proximity with another Metal claw, but Squirt countered with an Iron tail. The two attacks clashed, and the smaller mon was pushed away without taking any damage.

"You… rotten… little…" the Charmeleon panted.

"Ready to give up?" the happy little Eevee chirped.

The blatant dismissal broke what little self-control he had left, and he flew into a Rage. But before he could take a single step, his body seized up, refusing to obey his commands. "What… what is this?"

He was paralyzed, fully so. Most of the audience realized what had happened, cheering at what they knew must come next. Squirt saw it too, and he did not disappoint. Lining up his attack, he charged, head down, and landed a textbook Headbutt, right in the unmoving fire lizards' midsection.

A small spark escaped his lips as the wind was forcibly removed from his body. The Charmeleon dropped like an overstuffed Snorlax, eye swirlies in full effect.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle. Eevee is the winner!"

The crowd roared its approval and Squirt blushed under all the attention.

"Not bad," said Sly as Squirt cleared the ring while the defeated competitor was carted out by a pair of Chansey. "I would have done it faster of course, but not bad."

Squirt grinned at his friend's 'compliment', "Guess we'll find out soon enough," he said as the next match was called, and everyone watched with bated breath.


	40. JMT - Time to ROCK pt 2

Just My Type  
Time to ROCK part 2

…

The day wore on and people screamed themselves hoarse as a great tableau of battle was played out before them.

"ICE PUNCH!"

"ROCK THROW!"

Local competitors pitted themselves against the out of towners to the deafening cheers of their friends and neighbors.

"JUMP KICK!"

"BUBBLE BEAM!"

And the fighting wasn't limited to the ring. More than a few brawls broke out in the stands between overexcited spectators.

"What are you talking about, that was totally legal!"

"Are you stupid or something? That was totally foul!"

"Take'em to the cleaners Sly! Go get'em Squirt!"

The preliminaries had all but played out, and the last bout before the break was dragging. Squirt was beating his head against the brick wall that was a Munchlax. He hit him and hit him, but it was like punching a sandbag.

The Munchlax was slow, having yet to score a single hit, but he soaked up damage like a fat sponge or a Patrick Star, and Squirt was on his last leg despite landing dozens of attacks. It was the peak of frustration and that was ultimately what did him in.

Shooting in for another Quick attack he bounced off the Munchlax belly and that was it, he'd had enough. Throwing caution to the wind he aimed a Headbutt for the other mon's head. The attack was on course, his opponent didn't even move, so he never saw it coming when the Munchlax countered his Headbutt with one of his own.

The attacks collided, Squirt was left dazed, then Squirt was left flattened when the Munchlax dropped a Body slam on him and sent him into dream land.

"Eevee is unable to battle. Munchlax is the winner!"

…

"And I hit him, and I hit him, and I hit him, but he just wouldn't fall down. Why he no fall down?" Squirt babbled, half concussed though he assured his friends he was totally fine. Laying on his back swiping at the Munchlax that wasn't actually there may not have been helping his case.

"You poor thing," Marinette cooed, shooting Sly a dirty look for his snickering. "You think this is funny."

"If he wasn't so loopy, he'd think it was funny too," said the Tyrogue, unfazed by the fairies Mean look.

"Honestly, you boys." She'd no way of knowing the 'boy' she was talking to was having very similar thoughts on the members of her own sex.

"Hey Squirt, fights over. How bout we grab some lunch?"

"Yeah… wooooooop. I fall down," he said, once again on his back pawing the air.

This was too much for Sly who broke out laughing, much to Marinette's dismay, "Oh honestly."

…

"You were great out there boss. Really great. You weren't so great Rolling."

The Graveler had been taken out in the second round by an excitable Mankey. He was still smarting over his loss, but Rock couldn't have cared less. He was advancing through the ranks just as planned. It hadn't even been necessary for his underlings to step in, yet.

"Just be ready," said Rock. "We're in the semifinals now. Things are gonna heat up quick."

…

"Welcome back to the semifinals. First match. Tyrogue, vs Munchlax!"

"Well, looks like I'm up," said Sly.

"Avenge meeeeee!" cried Squirt, not yet done pawing his insubstantial enemy.

"Be careful," added Marinette with a fretful expression.

Cocksure grin firmly in place, the Tyrogue stepped into the fighting ring. He had to wait a minute for the Munchlax, and it walked up still stuffing its face. Big surprise.

"You about done?" asked Sly, feigning a mild annoyance.

"What's your hurry?" said the gluttonous cat beast.

"I got other people to fight today, I'd like to get to it."

The Munchlax shook his head, "Uh uh, this is your last fight in this tournament."

The Munchlax leveled what was probably meant to be an intimidating glare. It was just that he was so round and generally unthreatening; unless you were a sandwich, it sort of lost something. Not that it would have worked on Sly anyway. "Let's do this then."

"Fighters ready? Begin!"

The Munchlax, in a departure from type, charged his opponent. Sly was ready, Sly was faster; his Mach punch turned the Munchlax' head and aborted his charge. A Thunder punch sent the tingles through the overlarge mon and an Ice punch, slammed into the ground, had him sliding around like a drunken Dewgong.

"Wuh, hey, woah!"

Sly could have laughed, but he knew better. "Your done chunky cat," he said, firing off a Mega kick as the Munchlax slid within striking distance.

After some sliding and much rolling, the Munchlax came to a stop, eyes swirling, little Pidgey's singing.

"Munchlax is unable to battle. Tyrogue is the winner!"

…

"Hoohoo, can't catch me. Come on slowpoke, try and keep up."

The manic Mankey, Swings, was a bursting ball of energy. A quick, agile fighter he was here, there, then back here again before you could properly blink. This was a bad matchup for Rock who was not fast by any measure.

"Stand still," he roared, swinging his mighty tail like a flail to no avail.

"Haha, what was that? Did I just feel a Butterfree pass by?"

The Mankey was cocky, which infuriated Rock, but also made what he was about to do infinitely easier.

"Haha, can't catch me, can't catch whoop!" The Mankey dropped to one knee, and Rock capitalized. A vicious Smash flattened the smaller mon and a good Thrash with his tail sent the monkey mon careening out of the ring.

"Mankey has fallen out of the ring. Onyx is the winner!"

Rock roared his victory, watching out of the corner of his eye to see his minion pop out of the ground under the bleachers before he stopped. He was too close to his goal to leave anything to chance. He just had to get through one more fight.

It was just bad luck his opponent had been watching, very carefully, like only a person with a vested interest could.

"Watch your footing kid," his sensei instructed before he walked into the ring.

"Next match, Onyx, versus, Combusken."

"You're going down kid," Rock taunted.

"We'll see."

"Fighters ready? Begin."

The words were barely out of the announcer's mouth when Sparks shot forward, leading with a Quick attack and following up with a Scratch assault before Rock had even coiled to defend himself. The speed and ferocity frightened him. The kid was angry, and he was fighting hot but not in a reckless fashion. He kept up the attack, punishing any attempt on Rock's part to counterattack.

He couldn't take it forever, he had to attack but the kickin little fire chicken just would not let him. He gave the signal and waited for his opening.

Combusken landed, pausing just long enough to propel himself forward again when he felt it, something grasping. His foot snapped out of the grasping hand before it could latch on then slammed down, through the earth and right into the face of the mon attached to the hand.

"I hate cheaters!" he growled, pulling his foot free and turning back to his actual opponent. "You don't even deserve to be in this ring!" he shouted at his opponent, stunned as everyone else but for different reasons.

Recovering from the verbal attack, "Yeah, well, what do you know!" Rock shouted, having no good defense for his actions.

"I know you came here for something you're not going to get," said Combusken, dipping into a low stance, "because this is as far as you go."

Like a blazing flash he struck, A High kick rolled into a Stomp and a powerful Double kick had Rock seeing stars, but Sparks wasn't done. Gathering his strength, he threw everything he had into his best Mega punch.

The Onyx dropped like a Rockslide, a huge cloud of dust obscuring the ring. When the dust had settled, the young Combusken stood atop his defeated foe, raising a single hand in victory. The crowd nearly brought down the house.

"Winner, Combusken!"

…

"Is that who I think it was?" asked Squirt as the unconscious Onyx was carted out of the ring.

"Probably," said Sly.

"Think he was here for us?"

"Seems plausible."

"That guy seriously needs to find a hobby."

"I think it's the hobby that's the problem."

"Huh… that guy needs to get a life."

"Now that is indisputably true."

…

"Well ladies and gentlemon, it's been an exciting day hasn't it. But, all good things must come to an end, and for that end we have our final match. They've fought through every other competitor to get this far. Your final match, Tyrogue, versus, COMBUSKEN!"

The two combatants flinched at the auditory assault from the crowd. "Geez! You'd think they never saw a Pokémon fight before."

Sly chuckled at the other fighter mirroring his own thoughts, "Feel like I oughta say something about that last fight you had."

"Friend of yours," he asked, instantly suspicious.

Sly shook his head, "Just the opposite. He and his cronies have been following me and my friends around for a while now causing trouble."

"Why?"

"He doesn't like my friends taste in music."

"… seriously?"

Sly nodded.

"That... that's just…"

"Stupid?"

"Yes!"

Sly chuckled, "Well, ya know, you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your enemies."

"Fighters ready?"

"Shall we?"

"I did promise you a butt kicking."

"Begin!"

…

"You okay boss?"

What a stupid question. "Do I look okay to you?" A rhetorical question, not meant to be answered, but his minion still hemmed and hawed like he thought he should but just couldn't find the right thing to say. Idiot. "Just get my coat."

"You heard the boss, get his coat."

Boulder rushed off to find the distinctive piece of clothing and returned much later than should have been necessary. Rolling glared at his brother as he draped the coat over their moping master. Something about it seemed off, and once he got a good look at it, he understood why.

"Where did you get that? That's not the bosses coat," he whispered angrily.

"I couldn't find it," the other confessed, "so I just grabbed one I thought looked close.

The coat, all leather, just like his, none the less had a very different design stitched on the back. POWER VULPIX, it proudly proclaimed. The sight of it made them both nervous.

"Let's hope he doesn't look at it," said Rolling. He'd be furious if he knew he was advertising for a metal band with his coat.

"Grrr, gragh, I feel, funny," he complained, slowly rising, shaking about like a snake trying to shed its skin. "What is, what's wrong with me."

The two Graveler stared as a glow enveloped the writhing Onyx. It couldn't be. He was evolving? But how? Then, Boulder had a moment of brilliant insight, the jacket, "It, it was, a Metal coat!"

"GRAAAAAAAAGH!"

…

Darting around the ring fists connected with a sound like cracking wood. The two fighters were a close match, going blow for blow as they felt each other out and looked for weaknesses. Sparks was the faster of the two but Sly had more wit and guile, slipping in attacks where the more straightforward mon didn't expect them.

It was a good fight, for those watching and the ones breaking their knuckles. Combusken had never been so perfectly challenged, even by Swings who was his rival and near equal. He knew him too well and the only other person he really fought was his sensei who couldn't fight him seriously because the fight would be over before he could learn anything.

This Tyrogue was the perfect middle ground. He was on his level but not so overly familiar he could predict his moves. He was perfect.

Sly was having similar thoughts though for much different reasons. He was a self-trained fighter mostly. He'd never had a rival or a sensei so the fights he got into varied wildly from insultingly easy to insultingly over his head. He'd never fought someone properly on his level and he was having the time of his life.

"You know, you're not bad for a flamin chicken," said Sly, throwing a Low kick and dodging the counter Low kick.

"You sound just like Swings," said Sparks, charging a Fire punch.

"Yeah but I don't scratch myself in public," said Sly, meeting his Fire punch with one of is own, sending embers and sparks in every direction.

"Quit makin fun a me!" shouted Swings from the sidelines while his sensei stood by and chortled.

"They seem to be having fun," said Squirt who had come to join the two monkey mon when the fight started.

"They're a good match," said Infernape, observing the battle with the eye of a highly trained fighter. "Their styles are very different, but their level of skill is almost the exact same. Even I can't say who will win."

Neither could anyone else. The excitement continued to rise; everyone was on the edge of their seat.

"METAL!" then they were out of their seat and flying through the air.

"What the hell!" screamed Swings.

"Wasn't expecting this," said Squirt.

"Indeed, an unforeseen turn of events," commented Infernape as he calmly soared across the bleachers.

"METAL!" the sudden invader screamed. "I'M METAL!"

"No kidding," said Sly as he and Sparks stared at the invader.

The Steelix was huge. Huge and furious; it rampaged across the bleachers, scattering the crowd and wrecking everything in its path.

"Well, it was fun," said Sly.

"You think we should do something?" asked Sparks, uncertainty warring with his desire to fight.

Sly just grinned, "Listen, young grasshopper. Listen to your fist. What does it say?"

Sparks raised his fist, returning the Tyrogue's impish look, "Punch something."

"Smart fist."

Together the two fighters leapt at the iron menace. Fists blazing, they rained burning blows against his metal hide sending him into further rage.

"GRAAGH! METAL!"

A fierce lash of an Iron tail sent the two fighters flying. Despite his pain, the Steelix was too far gone to his fury to care.

"Rock? Rock is that you!"

The sound of his name managed to break through that fury for a second and he spotted a familiar fairy. He roared, advancing on the tiny flower who stood her ground despite the overwhelming size difference.

"You," the Steelix, formerly Onyx, snarled at the tiny fairy.

"Rock. It is you."

"NO!" he cried in apparent anguish. "Not Rock. Look at me! I'M METAL! I've betrayed the rock!"

The metal mon began to weep, bitter tears that stung like Beedrill. He had betrayed it, betrayed the rock. He didn't deserve to live.

"Oh come now, it's not so bad," the little fairy cooed.

"Yes it is!" he wailed.

"Now stop that!" she barked suddenly, stunning him to silence. "There is no use you carrying on like this, it isn't going to change anything."

"Yeah, but, I'm metal. I hate metal."

"Now that is an absurd exaggeration," she stated. "I'm not fond of rock, but that doesn't mean I hate it. And you don't really hate metal either. You know they have more in common than you think."

"But… but I don't want to be metal."

"Well there's not much you can do about that now is there? Besides, there's no reason Rock and metal can't coexist, now is there."

There was an infectiousness to a smile like the one she gave the troubled Steelix, a truly noxious virus. It was so honest, guileless, one couldn't help but want to smile back.

"So… are we not fighting him now?" asked Sly when the lull had gone on longer than he liked.

"Not all problems need to be solved by punching things Sly," said Marinette.

"Well yah, but it's more fun if you do."

Marinette gave an exasperated sigh, which was interrupted when someone asked, "Hey, what is that guy doing with the trophy?"

'That guy', the Munchlax Sly had defeated earlier, froze in his tracks, hoping beyond hope that if he didn't move, maybe no one would see him. His nerve didn't last, and he made a break for it. Without a second thought, Rock lashed out with his Iron tail and sent the Munchlax sailing through the air and into the bleachers.

The trophy was lost to space and the tiny metal cup with the shining stone on top sailed through the air.

"I got it, I got it," people shouted as they scrambled around beneath its arc, tripping over one another trying to be the one to catch it.

Sitting in the perfect spot, Rock was the one that caught it, stretching up just slightly and grabbing it in his mouth. "Haha!" he declared proudly.

Then the stone, loosely attached, detached, and plummeted toward the ground, intercepted by Marinette. "I got it." She smiled at her achievement till she was quite unexpectedly overcome by a strange sensation. "I feel funny," she said, and then began to glow.

The whole crowd stared in awe as the tiny fairy reappeared, now a slightly bigger fairy, wreathed in flowers. She was "Florges."

The crowd roared and cheered. It wasn't everyday you got to see an evolution and boy was this one a looker. She blushed at all the attention, batting her eyelashes coyly.

"Well, this certainly didn't go as expected," said Sparks, expecting the Tyrogue to mirror his sentiment but receiving only silence. The reason for this was obvious when he glanced at his former opponent and found him staring at the recently evolved fairy. "You okay?"

"Huh? Wha… oh yeah, yeah, fine, fine, I'm fine," he babbled, blushing madly.

The young Combusken looked at the stuttering Tyrogue and shrugged, "If you say so."


	41. JMT - Dark places

Just My Type  
Dark places

…

It was beautiful. It shone with such glory he thought he would die. Magnificent, radiant, spectacular. He had to have it. It didn't sparkle like precious stones, all leafy and petally, but he still had to have it. He was weak, weak times two. He had to have it, and he plotted how to get it.

"Oh, Carameeya!"

…

"It really was such a surprise, you know."

"Uh huh."

"I mean, I knew I had another evolution, but I'd hardly thought about it."

"Uh huh."

"To think it had been inside that box the whole time. Good thing we didn't open it before we got there, or it might never have made it."

"Uh huh."

"What do you spose that Munchlax wanted the trophy for anyway?"

"Uh huh."

"What do you mean, uh huh. Are you listening to me Sly? Sly?"

"Huh, what? Oh, sorry, wandered off there for a minute," said the Tyrogue, shaking his head as the fairy pouted at him.

"Oh really! Humph!"

His eyes followed her as she floated away, followed very closely, so closely they would bump into her if she stopped too suddenly.

"You're staring."

"Gah! Squirt! Don't sneak up on a mon like that."

Squirt chuckled as Sly tried to catch his racing heart. "Looks like someone got bit by the Luvdisc," Squirt teased.

"WHAT! What are you talking about, that's crazy, I can't even, can't… she hasn't said anything about me, has she?"

Squirt burst out laughing. It was just too much to keep in. His independent, macho friend was getting all twitter pated over a girl. Sly, the most blunt and straight forward person he knew, was tip toeing around like a nervous Skitty.

"It's not funny," he pouted, which in itself was also hilarious. Pouting! He was pouting!

"Really Sly," the Eevee giggled, "when did you turn into such a sissy."

"When she turned into a Florges," he shot back without second thought.

"That's it. You just think she's pretty then."

"No! I mean, we've been traveling together for a while now, and… I mean she's kind of a baby about things and she's not a fighter but she's, nice, I guess. I don't know! I'm not good with words."

"Or thoughts, or feelings."

"Okay, you need to shut up or I'm gonna bop you."

Squirt giggled at his friends' threat, "Just tell her."

"Tell her what? That she makes my brain go all fuzzy. That I turn to goo when she batts her eyes at me. That my heart does back flips whenever she holds my arm."

"That might be a good place to start."

Sly groaned, much to his friend's amusement. "Why does this have to be so complicated?"

"If it wasn't a challenge it wouldn't be worth doing."

Sly looked up from his hands, giving his friend a searching look. "Where did you get that from?"

"That Infernape at the tournament. He could see how you were 'pining after the lovely bouquet' as he put it. He thought it was funny too."

"Nice to know I've got so much support."

"Yep!"

"Hey, are you two coming?"

Seeing they'd been found out, the two boys made to catch up, and that's when it happened, as you knew it would. A shadow leapt from the trees and interposed itself between them. The shadow had diamond eyes and before anyone could open their mouths to say, 'what the hell' or, 'how do you see through those things', they flinched.

"What the hell!" ah, they did manage to get it in there.

Shocked by the Fake out they were momentarily frozen, a moment in which there was a scuffle and a cry of "Noooooooooo!" The two boys watched dumbly as their female friend and her kidnapper swiftly receded into the distance.

"Okay, what the hell just happened?"

"A Sableye jumped out of nowhere, grabbed Marinette and ran off with her," said Squirt, calmly shaking off the shock.

"That's what I thought," Sly groaned.

"I bet he's taking her to his castle," said Squirt.

"Well, wherever he's taking her, we better go get her," said Sly, starting a running lope down the road.

"You think his names Bowser. I bet his name's Bowser."

…

"Brute! Fiend! Put me down!" cried Marinette as she struggled ineffectively against her kidnapper.

"Hush now my beauty, we will be there soon," he crooned in something like a Latin accent.

"Be where? Where are we going?"

It wasn't necessary for him to say as the dark, spooky mansion loomed. It was a two storied structure, clearly built long ago. The wood was worn, badly in need of paint, sanding, probably replacing really. The flowerbeds were more like weed beds, but the weeds were clearly getting no sleep, and there wasn't a single window that wasn't at least cracked if not outright smashed, save one.

This whole window was at the very top, the small attic room or third floor of the two-story house. It was to this third floor they went, flying past the front door which clung to its hinges out of sheer force of habit rather than the things that normally keep doors on their hinges like nails and screws.

Ensconced in his private place, he lay his captive on a musty old divan, one of three and the one with the most of its stuffing still inside. Once placed, he stood back and waited expectantly.

Marinette had no idea why, nor what, and she was not feeling terribly generous after being roughly abducted. "What are you staring at?" she demanded, her own accent coming to the fore in her state of stress.

That seemed to be what he was waiting for as he gasped like one might after having a bucket of ice dumped on them, but in a good way. "Magnificent!" he cried, and lunged.

Marinette screamed but it was too late, and his vile assault began. He started at her hand and slowly began working his way up her arm. "Magnificent! Mwah! Radiant! Mwah! Carameeya! Mwah!"

"No! Stop! You beast!" she wailed but to no avail, so she tried slapping. Liking how it felt, she did it a few more times.

The effect was not what she had hoped, "Oh yes ma Cherie. Your passion is overflowing."

Definitely not what she had hoped, "Stop! Stop that, do you hear me!"

He did hear her, the sound of her voice winding him up like a cheap jack in the box. But he couldn't stop, he wouldn't. His mind was no longer his own. His blood had turned to lava. An overwhelming passion consumed him like a starving Tyranitar. He was weak, weak times two.

"Oh! Won't someone save me? QUICKLY!"

…

"That, is not a castle."

"Nope," said Squirt with a heavy disappointment.

The old house was old, probably fancy in its time, but it was no castle.

"Cheer up, I'll bet its haunted."

"Yeah, but it's not the same thing." He'd really had his heart set on a castle.

"Well, whatever it is, she's probably in there. Better go get her."

"Yeah, she'd probably be annoyed if we take too long."

…

"What was that!"

The resounding boom shook the whole house which creaked ominously.

"Sounds like my friends just knocked down your front door," said Marinette smugly.

"Interlopers," he cursed in a hiss. "Fear not my love, I shall return."

It was a moments concentration to shift his molecules around and slide them between the molecules of the floor. Their grip was tenuous anyway and left plenty of space. He floated through the attic floor and through the second-floor ceiling, dropping to the second floor, well, floor, and poking his head through to the first-floor ceiling.

He found the intruders surveying the foyer. The tiny fuzzy one seemed disappointed about something. The one with the eager looking fists appeared to be looking for something to use them on now that the door had so quickly surrendered. Barbarian!

Dropping through the ceiling he landed before them with magnificent grace, a most impressive entrance. The little fuzzy one was appropriately impressed.

The other was not. "Show off."

Scowling, the Sableye pointed an accusing finger, "Who are you that dare enter my abode!"

Being wholly unimpressed with his bravado, "Who are you that dare to take our friend!" Sly fired back.

"I am the master of this house," he declared pompously. "A fantastic fighter, and equally fantastic lover. I am Gomez, and I demand you leave at once!"

"No."

The abruptness of the response threw him off balance and poor Gomez kissed the floor. "You… you dare!" he sputtered.

"Sure looks that way," said Sly as Gomez pulled himself off the floor. "Now, where is our friend?"

"Hmph! I'm not going to tell you," said Gomez, petulantly turning up his nose.

"That's fine," said Sly, "I'll just beat it out of you."

Blasting off his mark like a formula one racer, Sly closed the distance with a Mach punch that could put holes in brick walls. Apparently Sableye were not as substantial as brick walls, or even thick air; his attack went right through, followed by the rest of him which had been fully behind the attack.

Gomez chortled as Sly went careening into an old clock, collapsing on top of him. "Bad luck old boy."

"He's a ghost type," Squirt shouted. "Fighting moves won't work on him."

"Your friend is right," said the Dark Ghost. "Though he forgets, normal moves don't work on me either. So what will you do boys?"

"This," said Squirt with a smirk. "THUNDER SHOCK!"

Gomez stared dumbfounded as electricity surged from the Eevee. His brain had just caught on to what was about to happen when it lit him up and he began to do the stick your finger in a socket dance.

Sly launched himself from the rubble of the clock, fist cocked back and trailing cold smoke. The Ice punch sent a chill racing through the dancing ghost and then it was his turn to be buried by rubble, some sort of cabinet and part of the wall.

"Not every punch is a fighting move," said Sly, dusting his shoulders and his head. "Let's go find Marinette."

But before they could, "You!" the ghost growled, floating through the wreckage, a baleful light glowing in his gem like eyes. "You come into my home, you knock down my door, assault my person, and now you wish to steal my things!"

"She's a person not a thing," said Sly, matching the ghost's glare with his own.

"Immaterial!" he shouted. "She is mine. You can not have her!"

The Sableye conjured a vile looking ball of power and before either could move, hurled it at them. The world abruptly shifted to the left about five degrees, taste was now color and their sense of balance was butterscotch pudding.

Confused, the two staggered about like a pair of fools. Squirt somehow found himself halfway into a wall, but before Sly could find himself similarly, Gomez found him. He was Astonished, knocked off his feet to the cackling of the dark ghost. Trying to regain his feet was difficult as they kept trying to escape him and while he fought to bring them back in line, he was blasted with a Shadow ball and put back under the broken clock.

"Well, this is going gelatin," he grumbled; even his words were confused. "Fudge Mankeys!"

Gomez hovered around cackling as he tried to free himself, undermining his own efforts by not knowing which end was up and subsequently digging himself in circles.

"Ah, silly fighter, this has been fun, but I think it is time to end our game." Wreathing his hand in dark power, he touched down and approached the Tyrogue, finally free of the debris. Swifter than the confused fighter could smell, he made a vicious swipe across Sly's chest.

There was a moment of shock, blood and the small crystal he always wore went flying. Gomez smug grin vanished when Sly disappeared inside a familiar sort of glow. "What! No! It's impossible!"

Impossible was the pain he felt when the Fire punch rang his bell. The evolving mon hadn't even stopped glowing yet. Gomez reeled back, lining up perfectly for a pair of follow up's, one Thunder, and another Fire. The punches kept coming as the glow faded, the mighty mitts blazing with elemental power battering the defenseless ghost.

Sly stood back as Gomez staggered drunkenly, and when he didn't fall, Sly helped him to the floor with one vicious Bullet punch, straight down.

"What kind of jerk just kidnaps people off the road?" said the fighter.

The ghost, barely conscious, looked up at his conqueror, "I… was weak," he mumbled, "weak, times two." Energy spent, the swirlies appeared in his diamond eyes and the fight was over.

Sly snorted, "Whatever that means."

"Love is strange," Squirt observed, no longer in the wall.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

Preempting an answer, Marinette appeared, "Is he gone?" she asked. Her friends pointed to the unconscious kidnapper. "Oh good. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to beat him."

"He wasn't that tough," Sly lied.

"Maybe," she allowed, "but he seemed to like it when I hit him."

"That's weird."

Pushing aside her capture, she focused on her release and beamed a beatific smile at the newly evolved fighter. "I see someone got all big and handsome since I saw him last."

Sly looked around confused till his brain caught up and realized she was talking about him, "Me?"

"And you came to save me," she crooned, sending tingles running up and down his body.

"Yeah, uh, well, what're friends for," he babbled, caught like a Stantler in the headlights of those fluttering eyes.

"I think they're for this."

The fighter turned a brilliant red when the soft petal lips brushed his cheek. Gravity, seeing his dilemma, took hold of the frozen fighter and 'gently' helped him to the floor.

"Oh dear! Do you think I over did it?" she asked, looking on with concern.

Squirt just snickered, "I guess that guy was the only one who was weak, times two."


	42. JMT - Hot night

Just My Type  
Hot night

…

It was a hot night, the hottest; in a hot club, the hottest. The dance floor burned like glowing coals, which was only sort of a metaphor. When the fire types started to cut a rug, they did tend to leave scorch marks.

Hot Streaks was a local club that catered to a particular type of clientele. If you had a problem with that, the rather gruff but surprisingly graceful Pangoro would 'ask' you to leave. If one could be said to ask with a strong grip and a mighty toss.

Sipping on some fruity cocktail that had been shoved in front of his face, Sly pondered on the feasibility of testing the black and white bouncer. It wasn't that he wanted to get thrown out, except that was exactly what he wanted, with expedience.

It had to be said, Sly was not a cultured mon. He'd no taste for painting, even before modeling for the frilly ribbon dog. The only reading he did was out of old training manuals and fighting magazines. And as for music, he was largely apathetic, which was something Marinette found positively vexing.

It was Marinette who had dragged them into Hot Streaks. It was Marinette out on the floor, dancing to his distraction. It was Marinette, and only Marinette, that kept him from starting something with the Pangoro; but it was a close thing.

Still, "Why did it have to be disco?" the lights were giving him a headache.

"It's not so bad," said Squirt form the seat next to him. "It's got a beat, and you can dance to it."

"Or get stepped on," the reason the Eevee had been forced to evacuate the dance floor.

"You're a real jerk, ya know that."

Sly just smiled, sipped his cocktail and watched Marinette dance.

"Wouldn't kill you to go out there."

"You don't know that."

The Eevee snorted, "Really Sly?"

"I don't dance. I don't pretend to dance. And I definitely do not make a fool of myself by pretending to dance in public."

"You could try."

"Yeah? I could also try practicing dentistry on a Charizard, but you don't see me rushing to do that."

"Overdramatic much?"

"Not at all."

He was not a dancer, simple as that. He'd sit there and argue the point with his friend all night before he tried to change that too. Dancing was for dancers, which he was not. He had no problem with those who were, just no interest in joining them. He could watch them though; one of them anyway.

Marinette was the sort who could dance like no one was watching. Probably why she was momentarily startled when their eyes met, and she realized she was being watched. Startling surprise became smugly pleased when it dawned, 'he' was watching 'her'.

Eyelashes fluttered like Butterfree kisses. Lips pouted, petals fluffed, and the look she threw him could have set a mon on fire. It was one of those looks, the kind females give that are all full of meaning. What that meaning is no man really knows and the wiser ones agree there's no point trying to interpret either.

Like trying to read the wedges in a piece of clay without the Rosetta stone. Pointless and embarrassing.

Sly of course was not one of those wiser mon and attempted to decipher the look, which was only made more difficult by the warm fuzziness that enveloped him and turned his brain to watery pudding.

Squirt watched his punchy friend stare and blush. Calmly sipping his own fruity concoction, he wondered if he'd ever find someone to go all stupid over. He hoped not. The way that straw was wandering toward the Hitmonchan's eye, it looked like a dangerous proposition.

"Ouch! Aw, geez!"

Yep, dangerous.

While Sly rubbed the straw jabbing out of his eye, the music faded and the lights briefly evened out, going dark. The Aipom on the turntable slapped a new record on and a stylishly dressed Blaziken strutted onto the floor.

"Now who's this guy?"

The who wasn't so important as the why. Why was he strutting like he owned the floor? The answer became apparent when the music went up, the lights flashed, and everyone stared.

"Huh."

"Whoa."

The Blaziken danced like most only wished they could. His feet scorched a path across the floor with such flare and style the whole thing looked ready to spontaneously ignite.

"Now this guy can dance," said Squirt.

Sly had to agree. There was no comparing the others to this dynamo, doing so would have been blatantly unfair. He moved with an ease and confidence Sly had only seen in grandmasters and warriors of that caliber.

"Wonder of he's any good in a fight," Sly wondered out loud.

Something in the zeitgeist must have resonated. A ruckus near the door was punctuated by the bouncer flying across the room. Spectators screamed as one of the huge speakers briefly did so in tongues before giving it up and becoming a mute.

A massive form swaggered into the room, bookended by a couple rotund toughs. Apprehension was evident as mon scrambled to clear them a path which led to the dance floor where the Blaziken stood, defiant.

"What you think you're doin causin trouble round here man!" the dancer demanded.

"Trouble? What trouble?" the big mon asked with innocence so poorly feigned you'd believe it was innocent only because guilty would never be so unconvincing. "We just asked him to turn down the NOISE."

Squirt flinched, "He is not doing what I think he's doing."

"Given his taste in music, I'm pretty sure he is."

"You wanna say that again, man!"

The Steelix stared down the ruffled Blaziken with a superior smirk, "Disco is dead."

The room gasped, as did most of the people in it. Most…

"Called it." But not all.

"Rock! What are you doing?" cried Marinette, rushing to the head of the confrontation. "I thought we were good."

The Steelix gave pause, genuinely surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"I came for the music."

"Seriously," his mouth said. 'Seriously' his face also expressed.

"Yes."

Extended pause… "Seriously!"

"I have eclectic taste," she proclaimed with a put-upon pout.

"If by eclectic you mean suuuuuuck!"

"Oh boy," said Squirt while Marinette gaped.

"Shouldn't have said that," Sly agreed.

Marinette wasn't the only one affronted and being within reach and possessing the necessary bravado, he decided it fell to him to take action. That action came in the form of a Blaze kick that slid threatening across the metal mon's jaw.

"I've had about enough of you man. Let's go!"

"OO! This should be good," Squirt expressed.

"Hmm, no. Just short."

The Blaziken danced around the Steelix, feet flashing in impossible patterns. His move to attack however was a straight-line forward. Whatever the attack was supposed to be it was not a Headbutt. This was evidenced by what happened when his head did connect. A loud clang and learning a new dance move, the spaghetti; a classic move often used in such situations by dancers who need the quickest route to the floor.

"Ouch!"

Sly nodded; it was about what he expected. He'd only needed to see the one kick, sloppy as it was, to know how the fight would turn out.

With Blaziken doing the noodle on the floor, it was just Marinette and Rock. The flowery fairy stared hard at the steely rocker, then, to his surprise, she threw up her hands, "I'm done!"

"Wuh!"

Shaking her head, she stormed off the dance floor, "I've tried being nice. I've tried to reason. But some mon just will not be reasoned!" she shouted, halting before her friends. "Sly!"

"Yes?"

"I have a problem," she said, pointing a very accusatory finger at Rock and his minions, "fix it!"

The Hitmonchan with the fairy infatuation looked at the girl, then her problem, "You do know how I solve problems?"

"Yes."

"My singular philosophy?"

"Uh huh."

"So, your saying I should?"

"Punch it!" she cried. "Punch it and punch it. Punch it till you can't punch it or it's not a problem anymore!"

A slow smile stretched across his face, "Just checking," and he went to 'solve' the problem.

Seat vacant, Marinette flopped into the opening and lay her head against the table. "This was supposed to be a fun night," she grumbled, overtly oblivious to the sounds of pain and anguish coming from behind her.

"Wasn't all bad," Squirt consoled.

"I tell you Squirt, after this I need… something. A day at the beach!" she decided.

"Someone say beach?"

"Sly! Done already?"

A quick look over his shoulder revealed three unconscious mon, plus several thousand dollars in property damage. "Apart from Rock evolving, they really haven't gotten any stronger since we met them. Not like me."

"Feels like a lifetime ago," said Marinette. "It's crazy to think how much I've changed since I met you two."

"Yeah, change," Squirt mumbled, suddenly very quiet.

"So, beach day?" asked Sly.

"Yes! Absolutely!"


	43. JMT - The hard choice

Just My Type  
The hard choice

…

A strong breeze blew off the water and the Wingull circled lazily overhead. The sea, there was nothing else in the world that so tested a mon; fortified him, purified him. Since ancient times warriors had come to train by the sea; to stare unblinking across the waves, and squint when the sun came out and reflected its blinding rays right in their face.

"Sly, are you going to stare at the water all day?"

"I might."

"But I want you to stare at me."

Which was but one more reason he was staring at the sea. He very pointedly refused to even glance in her direction. She took this as a challenge.

"Slyyyyyyyyyy!" she whined.

No man liked to hear a woman whine, but it was even worse when you were attracted to the female and it was 'that' sort of whine. Not the sort that made you want to grind your teeth and punch something. No, this was the other kind; the kind that stoked the flames, put yeast in the bread as it were. It certainly got things rising anyway.

Sly struggled to shrug off the effects. Just because he found her attractive didn't mean she owned him. He was his own mon. He would not rise to her bait.

I said not rise… not rise. Get back down there you! Bad boy, BAD! Down! Down, down, down! DOWN!... down. Good. Stay there.

"Where'd Squirt get to?"

"Up there," said Sly, gesturing at the mountains in the background.

"Mountain climbing?"

"I dunno. He seemed to be in an odd mood all morning."

"You think something was bothering him?"

"Could be. All I know is I saw him talking to that Aipom at the restaurant this morning, then he told me he was headin for the mountains."

"I hope he's alright."

"I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Oh SlyyYyyy."

"Hmm," without thinking, he looked.

Realizing his mistake immediately it was already too late, he was trapped. Her fluttering lashes and come-hither eyes held him more tightly than bars and chains of finest steel ever could.

Don't give in. Be strong. Don't rise to it, DON'T RISE!

"Sly."

SHIT! Stop rising. Stop rising!

Meanwhile, halfway up the mountain, Squirt was dealing with his own existential crisis.

Feet pattering up the old dirt trail gave no indication to the depths of his turmoil. That was the problem with being a small Pokémon; it was hard to convey depth when you barely left a footprint.

None the less, it was deep. Deep as the deepest deeps.

Well, maybe not quite that deep.

He was a long way from home. Farther than he'd ever thought he'd be. It was amazing. He'd seen and done so many things and yet, the one thing he'd set out to do, he hadn't.

Evolution. He was spoiled for choice, and no closer to figuring which one to make than he'd been when he left home. He'd seen numerous examples of all the possible types he could become and more, so why.

"Why is this so hard?" he grumbled.

Head down in deep concentration, the road continued winding around the mountain. It was a plain road, uniform, smooth and flat with no obstruction till that black and white roadblock sauntered onto the path.

"Oof!"

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Squirt shook his head and briefly considered the small black and white mon. "Sorry," he said, then made to go around.

The Pancham cut him off, jumping into his path, "Sorry! Yeah you look pretty sorry."

The Pancham sneered at the scowling Eevee, "What is your problem!"

"Your face!" he shot back, throwing an unprovoked Sucker punch that sent Squirt skidding across the road toward the wall.

Rolling with it, his feet hit the wall and he launched himself to the attack. His Headbutt took the Pancham off guard and he skipped like a stone on the water, except the road was more solid, and gritty.

"You wanna fight huh?" the Pancham grunted, picking itself up.

"Nope." Charging up, he blasted the unsuspecting bully with a Thundershock; watching him dance for just a second before rushing in and slamming him with a tail as hard as iron.

The Pancham sailed into the air, through the trees, and out of sight. "Nice to meet you," Squirt called after, wearing a smug little grin as he did. "Well, that was pointless," and yet he couldn't help feeling a little better despite it all. With a skip in his step, he continued up the mountain.

The forest closed in over the road as he approached the end. The humidity rose and bug Pokémon called to each other across the treetops.

"Hey Bill!"

"Yeah Charlie."

"You seen Susan?"

"Not since last night."

"Why'd you see her last night?"

"Uh… no reason."

"You bastard!"

"That guys in trouble," Squirt remarked, leaving the bug type soap opera behind as he pressed on toward the sound of falling water.

The road didn't so much end as fade. Gravel became hidden beneath a carpet of moss, made damp by the spray of the water falling from higher up the mountain.

He'd made it, "Now to find that sage."

The Aipom he'd spoken to had told him of a sage that lived at the end of the road, high up the mountain. He hadn't thought to ask what this sage looked like or how to find him. Bit of a missed opportunity, now that he was up there already.

He wasted a half hour scouring the area but all he found was a Ledyba named Susan, sleeping off something that smelled fermented. "Boy will she be in for a surprise when she wakes up."

Frustrated, he plopped down on a mossy rock near the waterfall for a good, hard think. He was spared the effort by the appearance of a Pangoro striding from the heavy bamboo wood like a shadow stepping out of the darkness.

"Ello there," she greeted, because it was definitely a she. Her voice, while low and gruff, still carried an unmistakably feminine timbre. Good thing cuz otherwise he'd never have pegged the big panda in the gray coat for a girl.

"Uh, excuse me. I was wondering if you could help me?"

"Spos'n that depends on what your problem is," she said, leaning over the pond and scooping out a handful of water.

"I'm looking for the sage that lives around here. Can you tell me where I can find him?"

The Pangoro sipped her water, staring at him out of one eye, "Must be looking for my husband."

"Your husband!"

She nodded, taking another drink as the Eevee squirmed excitedly. "Only 'sage' I know lives up here. He's a Pansage ya see."

"That's great! Where is he? I wah… wait. Pansage. PanSAGE!"

"Wasn't an Aipom that sent you up here was it?" she said in the fashion of someone who'd had this conversation so many times she could have it in her sleep and still be convincing.

"That sneaky, low down, two-faced, son-of-a…"

The Pangoro went about her business as Squirt screamed and railed. The injustice of it all. Couldn't trust anybody. What was he thinking? Gonna kill that stupid monkey.

His tirade broke off into incoherency as the Pangoro calmly snapped a bamboo twig off a nearby stalk and pulled up a mossy rock to wait. It began to peter out when words failed, and he started beating his head against the rock. An odd way to learn Rock smash; Sly would approve.

"Bout done there?" she asked.

Squirt whined, hitting his head against the rock a final time before flopping on his side, utterly defeated.

Moss covered rock wins.

"S'not fair," he mumbled piteously.

"Life's like that sometimes. What you need a sage for anyway?"

"I need to ask him something. Something important."

"What?"

Without even thinking about it, he told her, everything. She was a good listener, that Pangoro, which was lucky because once he got going it came in an unending flood.

Things he'd not even realized he'd been bottling up came bursting out. It was the most exhausting thing he'd ever done, which was funny since the only thing moving was his mouth.

"I think I see what the problem is," she said sometime later as he lay panting like he'd just run a marathon. "You seem to have built up this idea about evolution, what it is, what it means, and it's been driving you crazy."

"Huh?"

"Well, think of it this way. Evolution is just a reflection of who you are. Your brother, the Jolteon. Even before he evolved, he was already a Jolteon deep down, yeah? Your sisters, your cousins. Their evolution didn't change who they were, just what they were."

"Yeah but, I don't know what I'm supposed to be."

"That's because your so stuck on this idea of evolution. The idea that you need to change what you are to be who you are. You don't."

Tired as he was, it took a bit of mulling for what she was saying to sink in, sort of. "So your saying this whole trip, my quest to find myself, was all a waste of time?"

"Course not," she said with a casual dismissal. "Life is all about the experience, and you can always be a better you. Doesn't mean you have to fundamentally change who you are, does it?"

Did it? It was a crazy idea, so simple yet so profound. Had he been going at it wrong all this time? If so, what did he do now?

What did he do now?

"Hey you!"

A familiar and fuming Pancham glared at Squirt from across the clearing.

"You again?" said the Eevee.

"What you want boy!" the Pangoro barked in a very clear 'mom' voice.

The Pancham flinched but only for a second, "Not you ma, him."

"You two know each other?" she asked.

"Kinda," Squirt hedged, smirking.

"He kicked me down the mountain!"

"All the way?" asked Squirt.

"YES!"

"Nice," he said with a satisfied smile.

"That's what you get for pickin fights," his mother said.

Maybe it was, but he wasn't about to accept it, "Bro's! Get out here!"

Quite suddenly the little glade was filled with dozens of Pancham.

"These all yours?"

"I love my husband," the Pangoro nodded.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Hey ma, you wanna get outta the way?"

"Well, you were wondering who you are," she said, standing and giving her behind a quick dust, "guess your about to find out."

The Pancham grinned wickedly as their mother cleared the field, leaving the Eevee facing the black and white horde.

Find out who he was, huh. Facing this horde, who did he really want to be. Hmm. Sly seemed like a good choice.

"Okay boys!" he barked, cracking his tail against his rock like a whip. "Who's first?"


End file.
